A Saotome In Space
by ArtemiZZ
Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home. Now featuring cover art done by me.
1. A Long Way From Home

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Chapter One: A Long Way From Home**

Ranma no baka.

It's funny how three simple words strung together into a sentence can come to haunt a person. Sure, the volume and inflection behind them make a difference. As does the mallet that inevitably follows. However, when all of those things result in your entire world being flipped upside down, it tends to change you.

I still replay the moment over and over again in my head as it was the last thing I experienced that was familiar.

There I was, training in the dojo to beat Herb and regain my manhood when I was confronted with a weakness so uniquely me that it bordered on legendary. Speaking to Akane without putting my foot in my own mouth was never something I was good at avoiding. I don't even remember what I said that set her off. It wouldn't change anything if I did, anyway. The part that's really burnt into my memory is the unusually strong swing of her mallet that day and leaving earth for the first time.

I was never much of a nerd but even I knew that humans couldn't survive in the cold vacuum of space. I also knew that tornadoes of light weren't supposed to exist out there nor were they supposed to swallow people up and crap them out somewhere in the twilight zone. I may have fallen asleep in class more times than I care to remember but I was certain that earth didn't have a red sky or three moons and two suns. It definitely wasn't supposed to have so much gravity either. I knew these things for a fact and, yet, there they were staring me in the face.

Luckily, for me, the survival skills I learned while training on the road with my old man didn't seem to care which planet I was on. The forests, despite having purple and blue trees, were still made of wood. The dried up sticks and leaves still made fire. Dirty water still made you sick. And, most importantly, the outrageously over-sized wildlife could be killed and eaten if you were desperate enough.

At first, it had been difficult just to walk, let alone run and jump so I'd been limited to foraging for the fallen berries, nuts and seeds littering the forest floor. After a few weeks of scraping by like that, I'd adapted enough to move like a normal person and venture out from the shelter of my little corner of woods. It wasn't long afterward that I learned it was safer to hunt the giant white mantis since they tended to be slower than the man-sized feral rodents as well as easier to separate from their packs.

I tore my eyes away from the flame, where it was easy to lose myself in thoughts these days, and leaned forward from my seat on the fallen log to rotate the mantis claw I had roasting on a spat. It smelled horrendous but its meat was filling and gave me a great deal more strength than the foraged food had. Still, this was a dangerous place and I needed all the energy I could get if I wanted to survive it.

Survival. That's all my life was about now. I didn't even know if it was possible to find my way back home. However, if it was, then I sure as hell needed to live long enough to get there.

I ate my dinner and smothered the fire with dirt before climbing the tree I'd been sleeping in for the last month. I'd already learned the hard way that a lot of the local predators used the caves for shelter so trees were the safest places.

Since it took every ounce of effort I could give to stay alive, I was always exhausted by the end of the day. As soon as I found my little nook between branches, sleep took me.

I woke with a start, reflexively gripping the trunk between my legs to avoid falling, when a shockwave and tremor rippled through the canopy. It was early morning, on the cusp of daybreak, and there was just enough light for me to make out the silhouette of a massive object descending from the sky. I scaled the tree to it's peak for a better look and nearly lost my grip when I saw it in it's entirety. It was a long spear tipped oval with bulbous protrusions, bladed spikes of metal venting gas and orbs of pulsing light at the rear. I knew, without a doubt, that I was staring at an honest to god space ship. This wasn't earth so that left only one conclusion; aliens.

I didn't even stop to consider the potential negative repercussions. They had a ship. If I made contact, then I could get off this world and maybe (just maybe) find out how to get back to earth.

I dropped to the ground in one swift motion, pausing only momentarily to wince at the slight strain it put on my knees, and then took off at full tilt. I vaulted fallen trees, scaled boulders and swung on vines to close the distance as fast as I could. For all I knew, this was going to be my one and only shot.

I was mid swing over a ravine when the craft made landfall, flattening an entire region of forest as it did so, and displacing enough air to throw me. I felt the sharpness of the impact as I was flung into the cliff face and impaled through the shoulder by a thick tree root. The pain was so bad I screamed. My entire body weight was being supported by the wound.

I reached up with my other arm and used a higher root to pull myself up enough to lessen the strain. That slight movement made the wound hurt even more and I almost blacked out for a moment. I screwed my eyes shut, not daring to look down at the bloody mess, and sucked in a breath before yanking myself free. A sickening squelch accompanied the release and I held back a wave of nausea just long enough to climb over the ledge. The moment I was on flat ground, my stomach emptied it's contents of its own volition and I collapsed onto my side.

Blood was leaking out even faster now and seeping into the loamy soil beneath me. A surge of panic fueled adrenaline shocked me back into a higher level of alertness as my own mortality sunk in. If I didn't get help right away, I was a goner.

I curled my legs in and got a knee under me. Then I climbed to my feet. I could breath just fine which meant I hadn't punctured a lung. Thank the universe for small miracles.

I summoned the Soul of Ice and took off running once again.

When I came to the clearing of fallen trees, I realized just how big the ship really was. It easily dwarfed the tallest skyscrapers I'd ever seen. A seam appeared in the hull just before a loading ramp descended to the ground. It was almost as if the welcome mat had been laid out for me.

My feet started moving on their own and I nearly made it to the platform at the bottom when the first ranks of soldiers began to file out of the entrance. They were covered from head to toe in reflective white armor with black visors set into their helmets so it was impossible to tell exactly how alien they were. They were human shaped, at least, so that had to be a good sign, right?

I raised my good arm and opened my mouth in an attempt to ask for help but the words died the moment I saw them draw their weapons. I still had enough wits about me to dodge to the side when they opened fire. I don't know what I had been expecting, but it hadn't been this. A flurry of energy bolts flew at me as I ran for dear life back toward the cover of trees. Over my shoulder, I saw a large ball of light that felt like ki hit the ramp and incinerate the group of hostiles as well as a large chunk of the ship. I rolled into a somersault and took cover to avoid the concussive shockwave that followed.

I risked peeking my head out from between the fallen tree trunks afterward and saw a smaller disc shaped craft floating overhead with a man standing atop. He was clad in angular blue and black armor that left the bare skin of his arms and legs exposed. Other than the furry brown tail waving freely behind his back, he looked human. He raised his left arm and launched another blast at the larger ship which caused a chain reaction of smaller explosions to tear it up from the inside. It was almost as if he had known exactly where to aim.

I made to run for the treeline once again as a huge fireball lit up the early morning sky. There was no way to know that he wouldn't turn on me now that the greater threat had been eliminated. Clearly this guy had no qualms about mass murder. I tried to keep an eye on him as I ran away since it was never a good idea to totally turn your back on a potential enemy but he just vanished in the blink of an eye. The next moment, I ran blindly into what felt like a solid wall and ended up bouncing backward to fall on my ass. I was sure I looked like a fish with my mouth gaping open as I looked up at him. He'd come out of nowhere faster than I could see and stood directly in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest, authoritatively. I hadn't noticed earlier but his hair was unusually wild – almost gravity defying. He was also wearing some sort of headset with a lens over his left eye.

"You're hurt," he said, dropping his arms and kneeling down to get a closer look at me. It was a statement of acknowledgment rather than a question.

I was so shocked he was speaking my language that my brain didn't translate words to my mouth properly. I mumbled something unintelligible even to my own senses.

He tapped the device cupped over his ear and spoke again. "Amond, ready a tank. I found a stray."

It wasn't until he reached out and pulled me up by my good arm that I found the will to resist. "Let go!" I shouted. His grip was like iron, though.

"She speaks," he said, grinning slightly.

"She does more than that," I said, reeling back a leg in preparation to kick him in the junk. It was a betrayal of everything I stood for as a man, stooping to such a level, but I was pretty desperate. My ankle popped painfully as it met the solid material of some otherworldly cup rather than soft fleshy bits. I don't know why I'd expected that to workout differently.

"That was rude," he said, with amusement, as his grin expanded further. "I like rude women better when they're alive, though. You can complain all you want after we get you patched up," he added before lifting me off the ground and flying us (actual flying) up to his ship.

We entered through a domed hatch at the top of the craft and I was mystified by the small assortment of non-human looking aliens gathered around what I guessed was the command center. I didn't get to stare at them too long because he dragged me through an archway, down a corridor and into a room with three glass tanks that each had various tubes and instruments attached. One of them was occupied by an alien and filled with greenish fluid. A wave of anxiety struck me like a punch to the gut. Was I going to become some guinea pig in a twisted alien experiment? The kind the nerds in my class used to read about in manga?

I started thrashing in the man's arms as if my life depended on it. All I managed to do was tweak my injuries and make the pain worse. He sighed, rolling his eyes, and then struck me at the base of my neck. Everything went black.

OoooooO

Turles opened the hatch to the nearest regen tank and dumped the unconscious girl inside. He snapped his fingers and the medical droid proceeded to hook her up to breathing equipment. It also peeled off the blood soaked and crusty looking rags she had been wearing. She was about as well endowed as he'd ever seen but the fact that she looked in such a sorry state stymied whatever physical reaction he might otherwise have had. He took one last look at her, as the tank was filled, before retreating toward the exit.

Amond was waiting for him just outside in the corridor. The heavily muscled, tower, of a red-skinned man was wearing his stoic face, meaning he was preoccupied with something he considered important. Turles continued on walking and the larger man fell into step beside him.

"Is it good news or bad?" he asked his second in command as they headed toward the bridge.

"Bad," Amond replied. "They managed to successfully broadcast a distress signal before you destroyed them. Galactic Patrol will be crawling all over this sector within a day now that they know we're here. That's not enough time for the tree to reach maturity, let alone bear fruit worth the effort."

Turles stopped to slam his fist into the bulkhead, leaving a noticeable dent. "Damn it to hell. After all the research we did to find an unclaimed planet with this much abundance."

"There's still plenty of places inhabited by large sentient civilizations," Amond offered, letting a bit of bloodlust show through his grin.

"No, I told you before that we needed to save those until we're absolutely desperate or nearing the end of our goal. If we go straight into extracting from prominent and highly populated worlds, then King Kold will undoubtedly catch wind of what we're doing and kill us before we become a serious threat. He already hates Saiyans enough as it is. I heard he's even planning to put his bastard son in charge of my homeworld soon. And, apparently, the brat has an even shorter temper than him. The last thing I want is to see it get blown up. We need to stay off their radar as long as we can."

Amond sighed, but didn't seem too disappointed. "In that case, then, how about a place that's already been written off? There's this old world called Namek that was abandoned by most of its people a long time ago when it was overpopulated and polluted. Supposedly, only a few of them still live there and it's mostly recovered. Rumor has it that there are oceans full of wildlife. Plenty of energy to spare, if that's the case."

"That's a big IF. I've heard those same rumors and, even if that place turns out to be more than a myth, we could just as easily arrive there to find it still a wasteland. We'll have pissed away six months of travel and millions on fuel for nothing," Turles said, clenching his fists even more.

"Either way, we'll need to get away from the galactic core for awhile and lay low," Amond replied. "Might as well check it out in the meantime."

Turles sighed. One shitty option after another. "Alright, tell the helm to set a course. I'll be in my quarters. Make sure no one disturbs me."

OoooooO


	2. Outlaws & Space Pirates

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Chapter Two: Outlaws & Space Pirates**

A rhythmic buzzing brought me back around to consciousness and I became aware of the warm tingling sensation surrounding my body. It felt like I was floating. I opened my eyes and found myself suspended inside one of the glass pods I'd seen before. Thankfully, there was a full face mask holding back the green fluid and feeding me fresh air. I should have panicked but, for some reason, I was completely relaxed. The pain in my shoulder was a distant memory now. In fact, I hadn't felt this great in ages. All of the old aches and pains I'd accumulated over the years were totally erased. I reached a hand up to the spot where my wound had been but felt only smooth skin.

I heard a heavy clunk and then the fluid began to slowly drain away, allowing me to sink to my knees as it did so. I realized I was completely nude when the cool air hit me and caused an involuntary shiver. I stood up just as the hatch opened and was hit in the face with a towel before I realized what happened.

"Dry off and get dressed," a familiar voice said. I snatched the piece of fabric off of my head and turned to find the man who had brought me here leaning against the bulkhead off to my left. How long had he been there? "There's fresh armor in the bin at your feet."

I looked down and saw a metal box with the lid flipped open. Sure enough, there was a set of armor nearly identical to his with a bundle of black fabric folded beside it. "What happened to my own clothes? Who are you? Why are you helping me?"

"Those rags? We tossed them. You're welcome, by the way," he added, wearing a smirk.

I realized he was staring at me pretty hard and suppressed the urge to taunt him. He didn't seem like the type to be defeated by a simple distraction, anyway – unlike some of the dudes I knew back in Nerima. It suddenly occurred to me that, because of his superior strength, he could easily force himself on me and there would be nothing I could do about it. Better not to tempt fate. I leaned forward and quickly scooped up the pile of armored clothing from the box, making sure to hold it in front of me like a shield.

"Who are you?" I asked him again, firmly.

"Turles. I'm the captain of this ship and its band of pirates. And, as luck would have it, a position just opened up on my crew. We'll need to do a skills assessment before I can officially offer you a job, of course." He paused and gave me an expectant look as the silence stretched on. "This is the part where you introduce yourself."

Was he serious? I didn't know the first thing about ships, space, aliens or pirating. I was completely lost and hopelessly out of my element. Or maybe he was just taking pity on me because he thought I was pretty. That thought pissed me off more than anything. "The name's Ranma. I fight, I survive and I never quit. And I don't need your pity."

"Good," Turles said, losing the smirk and straightening up. "Because I'm a man of little mercy. Too much of that shit will get a person killed out here. I'm in a dangerous business and need to know my people will do whatever it takes. I saw you move with purpose despite being critically wounded. I need that kind of motivation on this ship."

I hadn't realized I was clenching my jaw until I suddenly relaxed a little. I could tell he was being genuine. Still, I certainly wasn't okay with the things I'd seen him do. If I went along with this, would I be forced to participate in blowing up a ship full of people, too? There was a difference between being a martial artist and a being a pirate. "Well, if you think I'm the type who'd kill so easily, then you'd better think again. I'm not a soldier or a pirate, nor do I want to be one. I'm not from space and don't know the first thing about advanced technology, either. All I want is to find my way back home to earth."

Amusement returned to Turles' face and he let a stifled laugh escape. "How noble of you. I'm sure those drones that were shooting at you would have listened to reason if only you'd called a time out." His sarcasm was scathing. "It's kill or be killed in this galaxy," he said, abruptly transitioning into intense seriousness. "If you think you can get by without making hard decisions, then maybe I'll drop you off at the nearest populated world and you can see for yourself what happens to civilians when the people with power come to take what they want. No planet is safe from it, including your earth; wherever it is."

I could tell he really believed what he was saying but I still found it difficult to accept. "There's never been that sort of threat to my planet in all of our history." At least, as far as I knew, there hadn't been.

"So, you're the type of person who would prefer to turn a blind eye, stick their head in the sand, and pretend it's not your problem when endless war ravages the cosmos? You just said you weren't a quitter."

"I can't quit something I've never even started!" I yelled. God, he was so infuriating.

"You're wrong," he replied, maintaining a calm matter-of-fact tone. "It doesn't matter if you're from some backwater world or how you came to be marooned on that planet I picked you up from. Whether you're willing to accept it or not, you've already started down the path by virtue of being here in this moment. If it wasn't meant to be, you would have died from your injury instead of seeking help and running into me."

I opened my mouth to protest but no words came out. He was the wrong one. I knew it and, yet, I couldn't find the right argument to make against him.

He audibly sighed in an obvious moment of frustration, running his hands through his hair. "Look, if getting home is all you want, then I'm sure that can be arranged at some point. We have more immediate problems that take priority, though. Since you're already aboard this ship, I expect you to carry your own weight until I can offload you somewhere. If you can't do at least that much, then I'll end up shoving you out of an airlock. I mean that."

I shivered slightly at the cold feeling and detached way he looked at me as he said that. He wasn't messing around. "I'll do what I can," I managed to say.

He left the wall he was leaning against and paused just beside the exit to the corridor. The heavy sliding door hissed open and waited for him to pass. "Meet me on the bridge as soon as you're finished dressing. It's the large chamber at the center of this deck," he added before rounding the corner.

I sighed, relieved to have him out of the way so I could change in peace and have enough quiet to remind myself that the problems of his world had nothing to do with me. I just needed to keep surviving.

I dropped the armor and unfurled the black fabric to discover it was a one piece stretchy leotard. Not my style at all, but it would do for now. I stepped into it and pulled it over my body. The armor, it turned out, was also flexible. That made having huge shoulder pads quite a bit less disappointing. After securing that, I slid on the black leggings and dark blue boots but ditched the gloves. I preferred to have my hands free.

I caught a glimpse of my own reflection on the glass as I was making an about face toward the exit and stopped to examine myself. My formerly pale complexion had become noticeably more tanned and my hair had grown out some. Most startling, though, was the muscle definition I'd picked up. The layer of baby fat this body had always had was almost totally gone now. It sort of made sense since the last couple of months had been the longest and toughest trial my cursed form had ever seen. I flexed an arm and saw the slight bulge of a vein over my bicep. I was more badass looking and less cute, now, which suited me just fine.

It took less than a minute to find the bridge Turles had mentioned and, as soon as the door slid open for me, I saw the gathering of his crew. There were seven of them, him included. Despite being obviously different types of aliens, they were dressed in identical armor. A couple of the men looked more or less human if you discounted the color of their skin; one red and the other blue. The others, though, were something else entirely. Two of them had green, leathery, skin with patches of blue scales on their exposed arms and legs as well as having facial features that reminded me of something of a mix between a snake and a demon. The bigger of the two, who I assumed was male, had two large horns growing from his head. Another of them was best described as a wolf-man with platinum blonde fur and crystal blue eyes. Finally, there was a lithe, grey skinned, woman with over-sized purple eyes, a doll-like nose and mouth, a bald head, and long limbs.

All eyes were on me when Turles cleared his throat and spoke up. "Listen up, people. This is Ranma. I expect each and every one of you to show her the ropes so we can figure out where her strengths are with respect to ship operations. Amond, you'll be making sure she doesn't die prematurely. That means training her without maiming or dismembering."

The red skinned man, who wore his long brown hair in a braid, easily towered over every other crew member and had the bulk to back it up. When he spoke, it was with a voice so deep I felt it just as much as heard it. "You're trying to spoil my fun already?" he asked, sincerely.

I did my best to not let him see me shudder.

"Turles, this waif cannot learn from me. Have you not seen her hands? She is a fighter, not a mechanic," the wolf-man said, sagely.

"And you're a better mechanic than you are a fighter but you can still hold your own in the field, Marou," Turles replied. "This is Marou, our engineer and demolitions expert," he added, turning to address me. "The point I'm trying to make is that we all pull double or triple duty around here. You don't have to be the best at everything."

Marou grumbled something unintelligible but didn't offer any further argument.

"Sir, I can show her how to read the stars but this old hunk of junk has been rigged with patchwork so many times that she'd just end up breaking something critical that we can't afford to fix anytime soon – even with Marou here." The blue skinned and white haired man who'd said that was young; possibly my age or just a tiny bit older. He also had a tail similar to Turles'.

"Doulie is just a bit over protective," the grey skinned woman chimed in, sauntering up beside him. "Young pilots are always paying more attention to their ships than the women around them. That's why he's still a virgin."

"Shut up, Zell! Why is that always the first thing you bring up to people? It's none of your business, anyway!" Doulie's blue skin turned a shade of purple with his blush of outrage. He sort of reminded me of when Ryoga would get all flustered.

"You're just too much of an easy target for her to resist," the green woman said. It was pretty clear she was female, just based on her voice; which was quite pleasant and not at all what I'd imagined. Her teeth were sharper than Marou's, though. She also had tiny spines growing out of her head in the shape of a mohawk as opposed to the two large horns of her male counterpart. "I'm Nessa. This is my brother Chist," she added, indicating him with a nod in his direction. "We are more muscle and grunt work than anything else so don't feel bad if you don't end up a master of multi-tasking."

"You're all a little too much grunt work, if you ask me," Zell said as she draped herself off of Doulie's shoulder. I felt my jaw drop open as she morphed into a blue skinned, dark haired, and more petite version of herself. Doulie froze up as she ran a hand along his chest and blew into his ear, seductively. "Sometimes it seems like I'm the only one who knows how to have fun around here."

Turles must have noticed my expression of shock, because he stepped up beside me and brought me out of my stupor. "Zell is a shapeshifter," he said, stating the obvious. "It's a useful ability. Especially for operations that rely heavily on stealth, infiltration and impersonation. She's our communications and computer specialist."

"I can hack into anything," Zell said, confidently.

"She'll hack her way into your pants if you're not careful," Chist said, speaking up for the first time. It sounded like he was speaking from experience. From the way he was looking at her, I was inclined to believe that was the truth.

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it, you big baby," Zell replied, releasing Doulie and resuming her previous form. "You should be thanking me, anyway. I was doing you a favor."

"I grow tired of these shenanigans," Marou said, grumbling, as he rubbed at the bridge of his muzzle. "Is this meeting adjourned? The reactor coils do not keep themselves in alignment."

"Not just yet," Turles said, raising a hand to halt him. "We still need to discuss the issue at hand."

Everyone immediately quieted down and got serious. I was pretty curious about what could be so important, so I didn't bother asking where I was supposed to fit into all of this.

"The Galactic Patrol knows our general whereabouts and has our transponder data on record. If we try and use any official hyperspace gate, we'll get flagged. We're either going to need a whole new box installed, complete with an ID job, or we're going to have to use a gate that's not part of the traditional network if we want to get out of this quadrant cleanly," he said. "We all know which one's going to be cheaper."

"You're not suggesting we go back _there_, are you?" Zell asked. Whichever place she was alluding to clearly had significance because the faces of everyone present suddenly turned toward agitation. "Turles, you barely got out of there alive after what you pulled last time and I don't think it's been nearly long enough for Jingo to have calmed down. In fact, I doubt he'd be pleased to see any of us – let alone offer up his services."

"That's why you'll be turning me over as a peace offering. He wouldn't dare pass up the opportunity to torture me to death. I'd wager he's willing to pay up quite nicely for the chance, even." He seemed awfully too confident to be discussing possibly being killed. The look on his face was similar to the one Nabiki would often get when she cooked up a clever scheme.

"There's no way he'd believe that any of us would turn on you like that. He just knows us too well. Even if I went in disguise, his private guards would sniff me out. They've gotten wise to my tricks lately." The certainty in Zell's voice was final.

"True. However, there's one person on this crew that he doesn't know yet," he added, turning to look at me as he did so. Six additional sets of eyes landed on me right afterward as a result.

"That might work, actually," Zell said, as she appraised me. "She brings you in, chained up, looking to collect a bounty and a pass to use his gate. After she gets the clearance codes, I'll bust you out and we can be on our way. I like it."

"What? No. No way. Not me. I have no clue what I'm doing," I protested. I was green and it was obvious. There was no way some alien villain would buy that I was any kind of badass space bounty hunter.

"We could just kill him, ya know," Amond said, offhandedly. "It'd certainly save us from all of this cloak and dagger bullshit."

"He's too important to kill," Turles said. "You know that. Besides, even if his operations weren't crucial to our long term survival, Zarbon would seek revenge on us if we took him out. What would Kold do if one of his highest ranking officers suddenly abandoned his post to go on a crusade? He'd investigate and discover what we're up to. Or did you forget that they were brothers?"

"Fine. I was just trying to point out that doing things this way is so boring and time consuming," Amond said, sighing.

"You'll get your chance to crack skulls later, I promise," Turles said, grinning slightly at the bigger man. "Anyway, we'll need to get Ranma presentable if this is going to have half a chance of working. It's only a six hour flight to Jingo's outpost, so we don't have much time to waste."

I backpedaled to put some distance between me and the others, hoping I could get away, but they were too fast. Doulie and Zell each got me by an arm. Both were way stronger than me, so I didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of breaking free.

"Everyone's gotta carry their own weight and earn their keep. That's just how it is," Doulie said.

"Don't worry, honey," Zell said. "This won't be as difficult as you think it'll be. Trust me."

OoooooO


	3. Gearing Up

**_ASIS: A Saotome In Space_**

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Chapter Three: Gearing Up**

"Alright... I think that'll do it," Zell said, stepping out of the way and allowing me to see my own reflection in the lavatory mirror. I awed at what she'd managed to accomplish in only a few hours.

My hair, now a bright shade of sky blue, was pulled into a severe bun which left my forehead uncovered to show off the convincing scar she'd drawn onto it. A liberal use of dark eye makeup added to the sharpness of my eyes and made me look slightly more menacing. As if that weren't enough, she'd drawn a series of henna-like tattoos up both of my exposed arms and neck. The armored chest-plate I'd been given by Turles had the shoulder pads shaved off and was artificially aged as well as stained with mock dried blood. A ratty brown scarf was loosely tied around my neck and left hanging to round things out.

I barely recognized myself. I could almost believe this strange girl looking back at me was her own person with some crazy stories to tell.

"Keep staring if you think it'll help you get lost," Zell said. "The key is to become the role you're playing."

"How are you so good at this stuff?" I asked. I couldn't imagine what a shapeshifter and self-proclaimed master of deception would need with comparatively less sophisticated stuff like this.

"I can guess what you're thinking," she replied. "This ability I have wasn't always so good, ya know. I had to train it up like anything else. Before I got to this level, I used to rely on other techniques to sell the image. A wise man once told me we must never forget our roots or discount the value of the lessons we've built our foundation upon."

"Sounds like something my old man said before," I said, thinking of the many times he'd dish out little nuggets of wisdom between the otherwise overwhelming ridiculousness.

It suddenly occurred to me how much I missed him and his stupidity. Hell, I missed all of them. If Shampoo or Ryoga came busting through a wall right now, I'd be happy to see them. Some part of me still clung to the hope that I'd wake up and realize all of this had been a long, twisted, dream. That maybe I'd taken head trauma again and was really passed out in the guest room at the Tendo dojo right now.

I thought of Akane for the millionth time since all this started. Was she doing okay? She was probably beating herself up by now. She never usually stayed mad at me for too long. I was the same way with her, too. If I didn't find my way back soon enough, would she forget about me and move on with her life? That thought was both painful and a relief.

"You miss your family, huh," Zell said, knowingly. "I've been there before. Did they die recently or a long time ago?"

"They're not dead!" I replied, more loudly than I'd intended. I caught myself clenching my fists and felt the embarrassment begin to creep up. "I mean, as far as I know they aren't," I added in a considerably more measured tone, letting my head drop. "They were fine the last time I saw them."

I caught her staring at me with an expression of concern from the corner of my vision before she spoke again. "You know... I never asked how you got stuck on that planet. I just assumed your transport crashed and you were the only survivor. I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's fine," I said. I meant it too. I could tell she was just trying to be helpful. "I guess that's the most logical explanation, anyway."

"But it isn't the truth, is it?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

I really didn't and I shouldn't have let my thoughts drift so far in the first place. Not when I was so close to going on a dangerous mission under totally unfamiliar circumstances. I shook my head. "Can we just focus on the stuff I need to know to get prepared? I've never done anything like this before."

"Fair enough," Zell replied. "I do expect to get the full story at some point, though."

If she thought I was going to spill my guts, she was gonna be disappointed. I got the feeling that she wasn't the type to simply let things go, though. Oh well.

OoooooO

"Are you ready for this?" Turles asked, briefly dividing his attention between me and the view screen. He had both hands on the controls and was piloting the ship toward a particularly large asteroid among a field of much smaller asteroids.

The bridge was abandoned, save for the pair of us. Apparently, it was important that the rest of the crew hide behind the extra shielding within the engine room so their life signs couldn't be scanned from outside of the ship. Our cover story required that they be out of the picture, after all.

We grazed a rock and I was forced to brace myself on the console I stood beside as the floor shuddered.

"It won't matter if I die before we even get there," I said, glaring at him.

"Should've had Doulie do this part," he grumbled. "Hang on."

Silence took over as he refocused on threading the needle through a narrow path. We both let out a breath of relief when the dense cluster began to thin out.

As we drew near, I was able to make out details along the surface of the massive floating fortress. Glowing lights cut a grid pattern across most of the exterior, reminding me a lot of looking down on a night time cityscape from above. Towers, domes and other artificial structures intermingled with the natural terrain so thoroughly, that it almost appeared to be overtaking the rock in the same way fungus ate a tree from the inside out. Like cancer.

Turles steered us toward a cavernous opening with several rows of floating red lights that appeared to be lane dividers. We were the only ones making an approach. The other ships we passed on our way in were either headed toward the exit or docked against a segment of the long catwalks that lined the interior of the tunnel.

I'd never seen any sort of construct so huge and complex in my life. There were countless pipes, vents, cables and riggings protruding from every surface that wasn't blocked by a parked ship. I held my breath as we got dangerously close to clipping an outcropping of jagged metal framework on our final approach to the open landing platform. The ship made one final lurch before we came to rest on a solid surface. My heart was thudding abnormally fast by the end of it. I officially hated space travel.

Turles flipped a series of switches, cutting the power, and the control sticks retracted into the floor. The constant humming of the ship, which I'd been oblivious to until it suddenly wasn't there, left a hollowness in it's absence. I could hear the old metal groaning as it settled. My boots made the floor creak as I shifted my weight from leg to leg. Doulie was right; this thing _was_ a hunk of junk. I'd ridden bicycles that felt less rickety.

"You guys need a new ship," I said. "Badly."

"It's high on the list," Turles replied, without looking at me. He was busy tearing at his own cloth and scuffing his armor. "Soon as I win the lottery, I'll go to a dealership and get the newest model."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Making myself pretty for Jingo," he replied. And then he reeled back and slammed his face into the closest bulkhead. Hard. There was a dent in the metal as large as his head. He grunted and spit out a gob of blood. I stared in shock, temporarily unable to move. Then, he did it again.

"Are you insane?" I yelled, lunging forward in an attempt to stop him. He held me back with a stiff arm.

"Stop," he said, spitting out another wad of bloody saliva. "It needs to be real if we're gonna sell this properly. Here," he said, reaching with his other hand to pull a knife from his boot. He held the blade so the grip extended toward me. "You're gonna stab me now."

Yeah, he was definitely insane.

"The hell I am! That's not what I signed up for. Actually, I didn't sign up for any of this," I emphasized, raising my arms to gesture toward everything. "What did you even do to piss off this guy so badly anyway?" I asked, pointing at him with an accusatory index finger.

"I slept with his wife. Many times. And, she got addicted. What can I say?" His toothy grin was stained with blood still, making him look gross as well as ridiculous.

"You're disgusting, ya know that?" I turned away, genuinely feeling queasy in response to the mental imagery. He was just as sex crazed and shameless as the boys I overheard in the locker room at school. They all had foul mouths and would do or say anything to get inside a girl's panties. Love didn't even factor into the equation for them. I suddenly realized I was starting to sound a lot like Akane and had to cut off that line of thought. It was too weird.

"Your words wound me," he panned, sarcastically. "Although, if you're jealous, you're welcome to take me for a spin sometime - so you can get your turn," he added with a nonchalant shrug. "After all this is over, of course."

A wave of fury swelled up and I found myself grinding my teeth. As soon as I realized what was happening, I took several deep breaths and reminded myself that I wasn't Akane and he wasn't some pushover. It was unlikely I'd get away with punting him out of a window without retaliation or even be successful in an attempt. "Listen, I'm only gonna say this once because I hate repeating myself. I don't do guys. Never have, never will. You got that?"

"You sure?" he asked, suddenly getting in way too close. "How do you know you don't like something you've never tried?"

"How do you know I won't just cut your junk off if you keep violating my personal bubble?" I asked, holding the sharp end of the knife right against his groin. He hadn't seen me take it.

Turles looked at me for several long seconds, his gaze smoldering. The flesh around his right eye socket was already beginning to swell from the beating he'd inflicted on himself and his bottom lip was split open. "There it is," he said. "That's exactly the level of calm intensity you're gonna need to maintain for this thing to work. No one will believe a low level nobody like you could out maneuver me otherwise. If you show any hint of weakness, you'll get eaten alive."

"You baited me on purpose?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. My grip on the knife loosened slightly.

"Don't fuck this up, Ranma. If you do, it's likely all of us will die in this place." He took his knife back, returned it to the holster inside his boot, then walked toward the corridor and left the bridge. "Come on," he said, his voice echoing from down the hall. "Time to gear up."

I shook myself out of the stupor he'd left me in and jogged to catch up. A soft red glow of backup lighting was emanating from the armory's open door and I could hear him rummaging. When I made it there, I saw him clasping on a metal collar with a blinking LED that went from green to blue the moment it was locked. He shoved a small metal cylinder with a red button on one end into my hands.

"What's this?" I asked, turning it over in my palm and instinctively rubbing my thumb over the button.

"Don't press that!" he barked, making me flinch. "That's the kill switch. It triggers an explosive on the collar."

"What? Why the hell did you give it to me then? Take it back!" I said, offering it to him.

"No. You're gonna need it to break me out. Marou made it specifically for this mission. Once you have the bounty money and the gate codes on a chip, you'll let me know so that I can set this thing up to blow. Until then, keep it hidden and do not lose it. Here," he added, handing me a long barrel rifle with a bandolier attached. It had six slots with shiny canisters slipped into each one.

"Seriously? I don't even know how to work something like this," I said, awkwardly taking hold of it, after slipping the kill switch under my chest plate. What the hell was I supposed to with this anyway?

"Don't worry about it. It's mostly just for show. Put in on."

I sighed, reluctantly doing as he instructed, and slung it over my shoulder so the rifle was resting against my back. I could already see it getting in my way by flopping around in the middle of combat. I'd ditch it the first chance I got. "There. Happy?"

"Good enough," he said, after pausing a few seconds to appraise me. "Let's go."

He shut the armory locker and squeezed past me to head back toward the bridge. I followed him there and watched him brush a hand over a sensor on the wall that made the domed ceiling open up. He began to float is way up toward the exit but paused to look back at me when I wasn't right behind him. "Come on, then. What are you waiting for?"

"I can't fly, you idiot! Or did you miss that little detail? I thought you'd have realized that after dragging me off that planet in the first place." I glared as hard as I could while crossing my arms over my chest.

"You were injured and low on power, so I just figured I'd carry you," he said, seeming to look at me through a new lens. "Anyway, you've got more than enough ki to do it. The scanner on the healing tank pegged you somewhere around five hundred, if I recall correctly."

"You're talking gibberish now," I said. "I literally don't know how to make it work." If I did, then I'd have had a better chance against Herb and probably never would've gotten myself into this mess in the first place.

He rolled his eyes. "You can project ki into blasts, beams... etcetera, right?" I nodded and he continued. "Just move that energy downward and push it out in a trickle as opposed to all at once. You have to modulate it for balance and direction but, other than that, it's pretty basic."

I considered it for a moment and then scrunched my eyes shut to block out distractions. I reached for that familiar feeling of buzzing warmth in my core and felt my nerves light up as it moved. I barely managed to suppress a yelp of excitement as I felt floor disappear from beneath my boots. I opened my eyes and found myself several feet up. I stumbled a bit at the shock but managed to catch myself with a quick correction. I was actually flying. This was a game changer for me.

I looked over to where Turles was floating and couldn't stop the glee from spreading to my face.

"You're welcome," he said, before I could thank him. "Now wipe that stupid expression off so we can get to work."


	4. Gravity's Well

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Chapter Four: Gravity's Well**

"Make sure you stay close to me," Turles said, once we got outside of the ship.

There didn't seem to be any obvious corridors branching off from the massive tunnel so I would've done so anyway, if only to avoid getting lost. I followed him into an alcove hidden under a mess of hanging cables, which seemed to be a dead end. There was a grated vent releasing steam from the floor beneath us. He stopped to look at me over his shoulder and pointed upward. To my surprise, there was an opening to a vertical shaft with a tiny point of light showing just how far it was to the other end. Now it made sense why I needed to fly under my own power. For appearances sake, I couldn't be seen having a captured bounty carrying me around like an accessory.

We entered the shaft and made our ascent slowly. I was still a bit shaky with my control which I suspected was the reason he was taking it easy.

"When we get there, I'll be doing most of the talking. Pay attention to what I say and be ready to improvise. You need to make a good first impression for him to take you seriously. If there's any clever tricks or special skills you've been hiding that would add to your credibility, this would be the time for them."

I instantly thought of all the confrontations I'd had in Nerima with people that used obscure styles or techniques and how much I'd learned from them. "I've got a few," I said.

"By the way, you're gonna need these," he added, pulling a pair of credit card sized slivers of metal from under his armor. One was black and the other was silver but they both had a white strip on one end. "They're coded to this collar. Thumb swipe toward or away from the white to change the level of ki suppression."

So his collar _was_ more than just a bomb then. I'd been wondering about it, actually. Now that I knew what it really was, though, I couldn't help recalling my experience with the weakness moxibustion. I suppressed an involuntary shudder. Whatever happened on this crazy journey I was on, I was gonna make sure I never ended up having my strength taken away again. I'd die before I let that happen.

"Why do I need two?" I asked, taking them into my hand.

"So you can give one to Jingo. He's gonna need something to play with to keep him distracted."

That made sense. He'd probably pay less attention to me if he was busy messing with Turles. "Okay then," I said, stuffing them into my waistband.

Bright light showered us as we neared the exit of the shaft and I squinted my eyes to compensate for the adjustment. We cleared the threshold and I saw just how massive the interior of this base was. Calling it a base didn't even seem adequate, though. It was more like a city. And a ratty one at that.

Old buildings made of dull stone were patched together with rusty metal panels and every window I saw had missing or broken glass. A lot of the city appeared to have been built upon ruins with collapsed towers and fallen bridges being actively cannibalized for material. The only structure that didn't look like it was decomposing was the centerpiece of this whole place - a massive column of a building connecting the floor to the ceiling between a giant stalactite and stalagmite. It was gleaming with polished black stone.

The rest were shantytown structures stacked high against walls, like scaffolding, along the streets in every direction. Vendors were using them to sell food, clothing and various other wares to the constant flow of people who were either walking or flying through the gaps.

It was also loud and stunk really bad. The funk was far more than any other city I'd ever visited, in fact. There wasn't that much litter blowing about so it was either from the food or the people who were eating the food. Or their reaction to eating the food. I was pretty hungry but that thought made my stomach feel too queasy to take the risk. I scrunched my nose but it didn't help.

It suddenly occurred to me how easy it would be to disappear in this place. If I wanted to, I could just slip away and leave Turles to figure out his own mess. There was plenty of other people I could try and get in with. Maybe I'd find someone kind enough to give me a ride back to earth sooner and get to skip all of this roundabout bullshit.

Then again, I could end up worse off. Zell had made sure to drill into my head the fact that this place was a hub for criminals of all sorts. With so many aliens of different cultures running around, the chances were high that I'd unwittingly offend one and get myself maimed or killed. In this case, it was probably better for me to stick with the devil I knew. Besides, whatever disagreements I had with him, he had still saved my life. I suppose that had to count for something.

"Come on," Turles said, floating off toward the city center.

I rushed to catch up and barely managed to avoid a collision with a purple skinned, three chinned, and pig nosed balloon of a man. "Watch where you're going, whore!" he yelled back at me as he moved on.

I was both stunned and enraged. No one had ever called me a whore before. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, stopping me, before I could react. It was Turles. "Yeah, fuck you too, pal!" he said, waving him off casually.

I shrugged his hand off forcefully and turned to glare at him. "What the hell? I could've dealt with him without you!"

"Maybe," he said, shrugging. "Or maybe not. You're way too tense and letting emotions get the best of you right now. Pretty sure I emphasized that you needed _calm_ intensity. That means saving the brawling until after we're done conducting business. You're hearing this from a Saiyan and we're notorious for brawling so you should take my advice to heart," he added, sagely.

The higher thinking part of my brain knew he was right. However, the baser level me wanted nothing more than to knock that pig's teeth out. The Soul of Ice would've been perfect for dealing with this feeling but all of the noise, smell, hustle and bustle had me on the verge of overwhelmed so it was next to impossible to get in the zone for that.

He quirked his head and seemed to consider something as he watched me fail to relax. "Alright, new plan. We make a pit stop at Gravity's Well before seeking audience with Jingo."

"What's Gravity's Well? Is it far? Sounds like it'll just be slowing us down. Can we skip it? I'm ready to be done with this mission already," I said. Anything that caused additional delays was an instant thumbs down in my book.

"It's a cantina. And, it's right behind you, actually," he replied, placing a hand atop my head which forced me to turn and look.

What I saw was a patched up building with a neon blue sign in the shape of a Saturn-like planet mounted on the rooftop. There was also some alien text beneath it that was impossible for me to read. "Oh," I said, before it occurred to me that cantina was another term for a bar. "I'm only seventeen, though. Not old enough to drink."

Turles laughed out loud. "Good one," he said, wiping a stray tear from under his left eye. "Rules like that don't exist out here, honey. We're gonna get a drink or two in you and you're going to chill the fuck out; I guarantee it."

I was doubtful. Although, there was a curious part of me that felt slightly excited by the idea of breaking the rules I used to live by back home. "Fine, I'll try it. Just one, though."

"Come on, then," he said, descending toward the entrance.

I followed him down to an archway at ground level. It had swinging doors in the style of a saloon from the old west. I could feel the rapidly shifting chords of bass heavy electronic music vibrating the floor as soon as my boots touched down. I steeled myself and decided to just keep going before I talked myself out of it. The inside wasn't quite what I'd expected it to be. Scattered groups of people mingled along the walls and around various tables set up throughout but it wasn't crowded.

We found a pair of open seats at the actual bar where a near human looking woman was busy wiping down the counter with a rag. She had pointy ears, short pink hair, full lips and wore a black dress with red glitter on it. "Welcome back, Turles," she said, dropping the rag and grabbing two empty shot glasses. "Who's your new friend?" she asked as she poured a glowing yellow drink for each of us. Her eyes lingered on the ki-collar he was wearing.

"Hey, Lesko," Turles replied, greeting her with a casual nod of his head. "I wouldn't call Ranma a friend, exactly. She got lucky and found me at the right moment. As you can see, she's trying to cash in." He gave me a side glare which I could tell was my cue to play along.

I recalled Zell's advice related to putting on an act. It was important to sprinkle the lies with elements of truth to help sell the authenticity of what you were doing. "I was going to just leave him for dead, actually. He seemed convinced that Jingo would pay money for him, though," I added, grabbing hold of my shot glass.

"I suppose he would, after what you pulled," Lesko said, smirking at him. "Didn't hear anything about an official bounty, though."

In my attempt to look like a pro, I downed the drink all at once like I'd seen my dad and mister Tendo do so many times before. That turned out to be a colossal mistake. The burning and bitterness made me gag so hard that I almost fell off of my stool. I was immediately subjected to their laughter.

"Still wet behind the ears, I see," Lesko said, after catching her breath. "How cute. Ya know, hunters don't usually drink with their bounty," she added, shifting her scrutiny back to Turles.

Turles downed his drink in one smooth motion before firmly placing the glass back down. He slid it toward Lesko insistently and she refilled it for him. "Yeah, well, being that she's still a rookie, I figure I've got a fair chance of turning her."

"Oh?" Lesko asked, raising an eyebrow. "And how is that working out so far?" She turned her inquiring gaze on me.

I managed to clear my throat of the last bits of burning liquid before answering. "I almost cut his dick off," I replied. The glare I shot him was very real.

Lesko suffered through another fit of giggles before refilling my glass. "Did he give you his smoldering eyes?"

"He tried," I said, grabbing the glass and downing it in one go again. My throat was slightly numb from the last time, so it went down way easier. The warmth beginning to spread from my stomach was oddly comforting.

"She's a work in progress, like I said," Turles interjected, shrugging.

Lesko gave him a skeptical nod of acknowledgment. "Good luck with that." She turned to me before continuing. "If you're banking on Jingo shedding primo coin for him, though, think again. The woman at the center of this mess, his third wife in as many years by the way, ran off with another man about a week ago. They took his favorite hyperspace yacht, the _Nebula_. He's so pissed that he's got an officially declared bounty out on them and suspended all unrelated services until his ship is brought back. There's a bonus for bringing them in alive, too, since I'm sure he wants to remove their heads himself. That's where the real money is at, girlfriend."

I felt my jaw slowly drop open. I assumed unrelated services included gate passage for normal travelers. This complicated things tremendously and essentially neutered our mission. If we couldn't carry on as planned, then it meant my journey back to earth just got indefinitely longer and Akane was that much further from my grasp. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth while turning to glare at Turles, who had all but assured me that this would workout exactly as he'd described.

He wore a contemplative expression as he lifted his drink to his mouth. "That's what Jingo gets for marrying a hooker from his own red light district. She always had her own agenda and was trying to recruit me for some small time charity work. That's why I only smashed and never lingered. Anyone with a sharp sense could tell she was a skilled manipulator. Amateurs," he added, shaking his head, before downing his drink.

A wife who was an ex-hooker with an agenda? That was a betrayal time bomb waiting to happen. "You didn't think to share that important bit of information before?" I yelled, reaching into my waist band for the metal card. I thumbed the surface until I saw him wilt and then socked him in the face hard enough to knock him off of his stool. "I was counting on this, you asshole!"

He wiped the blood from his mouth as he laid on his back and used his other hand to undo the collar. "That's enough," he said, sitting up and making eye contact with me. His expression was calm and calculating.

"Holy shit! I knew it!" Lesko said, clapping her hands. "You two were running a scam together, right?"

"Something like that," Turles said, climbing back onto his seat. He held the opened collar up to his face and spoke into it. "Change of plans, Zell. I need you to meet me outside of Gravity's and have the crew prep the ship for battle."

"Acknowledged," Zell's grainy voice said from a tiny speaker inside the device.

"Battle?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna go get Jingo's ship back from that woman. There's only one planet she would've taken it to and it's most likely in the middle of being purged right now. Zell will confirm that first, of course."

"Purged? Am I missing something?" It definitely felt like I was.

"Have you been living under a rock?" Lesko asked me. "Turles, where'd you find this girl?"

"Long story. Another time, maybe?" he asked. "Can you cover the bill for me? You know I'll make it up to you, right?"

"You always do, one way or another," she replied, winking at him.

He spared a moment to blow her a kiss before grabbing me by the forearm and dragging me toward the exit with him.

"Hey, I need answers!" I said, resisting as best I could.

We were outside again and floating above the roofline before he bothered to respond. "You're not ready"

"Of course I'm ready!" I replied.

"You sure?" he asked. "Because the last time I tried to explain how things work, you only wanted to prattle on about how it isn't your problem."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Well, it's clearly my problem now, isn't it? I can't get home if this doesn't get resolved."

A dark expression took over Turles' face to accompany his grim laughter. "The sort of problem I'm talking about can't be resolved with something as basic as this. Listen, since you're coming along for the ride anyway, you'll get to see first hand what I'm talking about. That, more than anything, should put things into perspective for you."

Zell appeared in the air beside us the next moment, putting the brakes on our exchange. I really wanted to twist Turles' arm on this, mainly because I was tired of being treated like a child, but there was a sense of urgency that seemed to be taking over things.

"I found it," Zell said, pulling out a transparent rectangular disk. As if on cue, video footage began to play. It was just static, though. The kind you'd see on television when you were tuned to a channel with no service.

"There's nothing there. What the hell does that mean?" I asked.

"It means I was right," Turles said.

"I hacked into the satellite cameras and they're all like this. If live communications are being jammed, then it's definitely happening right now," Zell said. Her voice was grim. "Turles, our ship isn't fast enough to make it there in time, even if we left now and were given a pass to use the gate to get there. We're gonna have to make an appeal to Jingo and borrow one of his."

Turles grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. "Well, screw it, then. I may not like it, and he definitely won't, but he'll have to let us – if he wants his ship back, anyway. And, if we succeed, it'll put us back in his good graces for a long time."

"Why don't you sit this one out?" Zell asked. "I think there'd be a better chance of getting him to agree if it's me asking instead. He probably won't sit still long enough to listen if it's you."

Turles took a moment to contemplate before nodding his head in acquiescence.

"Good," Zell continued. "Ranma, you're with me. I may need backup in case things go south."

I cracked my knuckles and rolled my neck to stretch out a kink. This was something I could deal with. "I'm ready."


	5. Jingo

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Chapter Five: Jingo**

The inside of Jingo's keep was more opulent than one would expect of a criminal lord. Ornate gold trimmed tapestries lined the polished black walls from floor to ceiling with gleaming crystal statues of alien men, who I assumed were significant in some way, spaced evenly between them. The high ceilings were adorned with murals depicting a variety of planets against the background of space. If anything, it felt more like a palace.

"Fancy digs," I said, taking it all in as we walked.

"Jingo's royalty on his planet. This is roughing it compared to what he grew up with," Zell said, casually.

"You know him pretty well, then?"

"Professionally, yes. Personally? Not as much as I probably should," she replied. "I've always made a point of researching my marks so I'm acquainted with _most_ of his background at least."

"Marks?"

"He was one of the first people I ever tried to scam," she elaborated. "It was years ago, obviously, and I was still quite inexperienced. He caught me in the act but took pity on me and let me go. He's definitely not that soft anymore, though."

It was hard to imagine someone in his position being described as soft, even if it was a long time ago. I assumed it was before he took charge of this whole operation.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The king and queen of Gulveda became an inconvenience or a political threat, I'm not sure which, so Kold had them assassinated - along with most of the royal family and their nobles. Jingo's twin brother, Zarbon, pledged fealty to King Kold in exchange for sparing the planet and its remaining people. Jingo couldn't accept that so he ended up going rogue and getting involved in the underworld. This," she added, raising her hands and gesturing to our surroundings, "is the result."

We turned a corner and I saw a set of floor to ceiling length stained glass double doors at the far end of the corridor. They were unguarded.

"Hey, is it weird that no one's tried to stop us or even come out yet?" I asked. I would've guessed that Jingo would react to Zell's approach at least a little bit.

"He's got this place armed and wired to the teeth," she said. "If he's allowed us to get this far, then we're probably not in danger of dying right away. It's a good sign that he's curious enough to hear us out."

"Yeah, lets avoid the whole dying thing, if we can," I replied. "I've got enough problems as it is." Too many to count, actually.

The doors opened automatically as we neared them and revealed a botanical garden atrium within. Artificial sunlight doused the interior and its lush greenery which was quite a pleasant sight after being in space for so long. As much as I wanted to admire the nature, my eyes were instead pulled toward the three people at the center.

A man with pale green skin and dark hair that fell past his shoulders was standing with his back turned toward us while two very nude women were meticulously dressing him. One, a blue fair skinned woman with curly violet hair, was knelt down as she wrapped a black sash around his waist to secure his loose white pants. The other, a red skinned woman with straight silver hair, was in the process of gathering his hair into a ponytail. The man, himself, had a slim but chiseled build similar to my other form which was easy to discern because the top half of his body was currently bare.

I gave Zell a side glance and, based on her unsurprised expression, determined that this was definitely Jingo.

He turned to look at us over his shoulder and I saw that he had the most bishounen face I'd ever seen. The smirk he wore as his eyes examined us annoyed me for some reason. It was sort of smug mixed with a hint of condescension, like he'd instantly decided we were beneath him. I decided, in that moment, that his too pretty face was worth punching. Hopefully I'd get a chance at some point.

The two naked women finished their tasks simultaneously and teamed up to hold a white vest open so Jingo could shrug it on. As soon as that was over, he snapped his fingers and the ladies bowed their heads before retreating into the thicket. Jingo then turned to face us directly.

"On the rebound so soon, Jingo?" Zell asked. "That didn't take long. It's been, what, a week at most since Elarya ran out on you?"

"Ah. So that's why you're here, then," he replied. His voice was smooth, light and refined. "I thought maybe you'd finally decided to ditch that trash you've been working for and come serve me instead. Your talents are wasted on him, you know."

Zell rolled her eyes. "If I was small minded enough to be satisfied with being your wild card concubine, you'd have had me already. I'm here to talk business."

"Who's your friend?" he asked, inclining his head toward me. His condescension was briefly replaced by a hungry look that sent a chill up my spine.

"Nobody special. A probationary recruit," she replied.

"Hm. If you say so," he replied, clearly dubious. "Anyway, I don't need your help getting my ship back. I've got all of the best men already on the job. They've been chasing her since she left."

Zell didn't seem bothered by that in the slightest. In fact, her face broadcasted only confidence. "When was the last time you heard from them?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Thirty-six hours ago. Not that it's any of your business," he replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Then they're either all dead or have abandoned the mission," Zell said. "It's a purge."

Jingo flinched, tensing up and balling his hands into fists. "You're sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I hacked the satellites orbiting her home system and they're all static. It's happening right now," she said, pulling out the video player and tossing it to him in one quick motion.

He caught it with one hand and took a moment to examine it for himself.

Zell continued. "Turles and the rest of our crew are prepared to go in and get your ship back, but our ship isn't in the kind of condition to make it there in time."

"You want one of mine, then," Jingo surmised.

Zell nodded and I could see the muscles of Jingo's jaw clench in reaction. I tensed, readying myself for action just in case. There was a long and dreadful silence as I waited for something to happen.

Jingo let out a breath and seemed to deflate slightly. "Follow me," he said, doing an about face and heading deeper into the brush.

I shot Zell a glance and she nodded, so we hurried to catch up.

We followed him down a narrow path through the overgrowth which opened up to a clearing with another set of stained glass doors. His brisk pace came to abrupt halt as the doors opened into the darkness of an empty elevator shaft. He stepped over the ledge and let himself drop. I hesitated until a series of illuminated rings began to flare to life along his descent. Zell pushed me over the edge and I swallowed a yelp while trying to manage my fall. It was a long way down.

Eventually, the shaft opened up into a large cavern with a network of catwalks arrayed very similarly to a boating marina and I caught myself with a burst of ki just strong enough to make my landing a soft one. Zell touched down beside me a split second afterward.

"My private garage," Jingo said, lifting an arm into a sweeping gesture as he lead us past a variety of spacecraft. All of them were nicer than Turles' ship.

We stopped beside one that was significantly smaller than the rest and just a tiny bit smaller than Turles'. It's arrow tipped nose and flattened oval body oozed speed even to a newbie like me.

"This is the _Javelin_," Jingo said, running a hand along its polished silver hull. "A one off build I commissioned fairly recently. It's got two Pulsar Corporation sub-light engines with an overdrive inverter and a quantum-clocked hyperdrive stolen from a Galactic Patrol scout ship. There's nothing faster out there; I guarantee it."

Zell let out a low whistle. "Impressive," she said, before holding out a hand with the palm up. "Keys?"

"Not so fast," he said, stopping beside a seam in the shape of a door and turning to look back at us. "I want both of my ships back here within three days. If they aren't and I find out that you guys didn't die in the purge, then I'll send the whole galaxy after you. No place will be safe."

Zell yawned, looking bored. "Anything else?"

He reached into his pants pocket and withdrew a metallic red chip hooked onto a black chain mesh necklace which he dangled out for her. "Have a safe trip," he added.

OoooooO

"I think I'm in love..." Doulie said, practically drooling, as he tapped away at the console from his seat at the front of the cockpit. Marou was seated next to him in the co-pilot's chair to his left while the rest of us were strapped into benched seats running the length of the rearward compartment.

"Indeed, it is a thing of beauty," the wolfman said, nodding his head in agreement.

"You guys aren't going to whip it out and start jacking it, are you?" Nessa asked. "We're literally on the clock here."

Marou growled over his shoulder, leveling a glare at her.

"Quiet down, children," Zell said, intervening. "Loathe as I am to admit, now's not the time for fun. Turles?"

"Listen up, people," he said, taking charge. "Solista doesn't have any moons which means the purge is being accomplished through a protracted invasion rather than Ozaru strike teams. We're gonna be exiting hyperspace in the middle of a shitstorm so it's important that we get to ground as fast as possible and stash the _Javelin_ somewhere secure. Doulie's gonna need extreme focus to do that and Marou will almost assuredly be compensating for damage so lets keep the bickering to a minimum, shall we?" No one said anything so he carried on. "Doulie, take us outta here."

Doulie acknowledged him with a non-committal grunt and keyed something that brought the engines to life. Immediately, the soft hum that I'd come to associate with space travel filled the cabin. A mild jolt accompanied our breaking loose from the rigging that had kept the ship tethered to the dock. I watched through the windshield as we banked to the right and lined up with two massive bay doors that were already sliding open for us. He pushed a lever ever so slightly and we surged forward with a moderate amount of acceleration that carried us beyond the threshold and out into proper space. He made short work of the asteroid field serving as a barrier and I couldn't help but glance at Turles as he did. He wasn't paying attention to me, though, so he didn't notice. As soon as we got clear, he popped open a small transparent lid that was covering a red toggle switch and flipped the thing. The humming ramped up to a fever pitch that lasted a split second before the stars outside the window stretched into beams and morphed into a swirl of colorful soup.

I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and sagged as much as the seat harness would allow.

"Don't get too comfortable, kid," Amond said. He was sitting directly across from me. "Solista isn't that far in a ship like this. We got thirty minutes at most before we're in the mix." He actually looked excited.

I felt a wave of anxiety hit like a slap to the face. It was barely enough time to process all of the day's new revelations. Turles had insisted that I'd be better served experiencing things firsthand since I'd been dismissive of him when he tried to explain. I was already beginning to connect the dots, though, thanks to what I'd overheard. The picture I was putting together wasn't pretty.

"You look scared," Chist said, his eyes scrutinizing me. His expression was grim, which was quite the feat considering his already hardened features. "You should be. Fear will keep you sharp as long as you have it under control."

I swallowed a lump constricting my throat to find my voice. "Have you been to a purge before?" I asked.

"We all have," he replied. "And we've all lost something because of it. It's why we're in this fight."

"How long have these things been going on?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I was prepared in case he shared the gritty details but, at the same time, I needed a distraction and he was providing it.

"Since before most of us were born," Zell said, interjecting. "But the Kold organization is only the latest threat to the cosmos. There have been several factions to tear across the stars before and the Galactic Hierarchy have always seemed to turn a blind eye so long as the offending parties play nice and give them their cut of the spoils. It's nothing but a bunch of crooks running the show."

I suddenly recalled the moment when Zell had made the assumption about my family dying. She had said she understood missing them. "Did you lose your family to a purge?"

Zell shook her head. "I'm not sure. I grew up in an orphanage on Pactis. Nessa and Chist, though? They lost their entire planet."

My jaw dropped open and my eyes immediately returned to Chist. "Seriously?"

He nodded but it was his sister who spoke up on his behalf. She was sitting to my left. "We're the last of our kind," she said. "Since we're brother and sister, our race dies with us," she added. Her pained expression twisted my gut into knots.

I was overcome with impotent rage all of the sudden. Here I was, still clinging to my own issues, and there they were shouldering such a heavy burden. And, no matter how angry I was about their situation, there was nothing I could do to fix it. "I'm sorry..." I said, letting my head hang.

"This sort of thing is relatively normal nowadays," Turles said, chiming in. "That's why we have to make it stop. My people are largely responsible for the recent surge of progress that Kold has made in acquisitions of planets and it's given us a bad rap. We like to fight, yes, but on our own terms. And there's a difference between testing yourself against strong opponents and wars of genocide."

My head was spinning. This was almost too much to take in. "How can one small group of people expect to turn the tables on something so organized?"

"We take it one day at a time," Zell said. "And, occasionally, we get lucky."

I felt a jolt and snapped my attention to the front window. We'd just exited hyperspace and there was a blueish white planet taking up a large portion of the view. There were bursts of light dotting the surface intermittently which I assumed were explosions.

"Let's hope today is one of those days," Turles added.


	6. Berserk

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**A/N (READ THIS FIRST)**: I've decided to try something new for this chapter and recommend music at a specific point to help with immersion. It's optional, of course. For those participating, please cue up _Feel It Coming_ by Dyson and look for the double asterisk inside parentheses (**) for the signal. Have fun!

**Chapter Six: Berserk**

The front window glowed red with the heat of reentry as we sliced through Solista's atmosphere. That, coupled with a general haziness from the non-stop explosions, made visibility a problem. Despite that, Doulie was doing a fine job of keeping the _Javelin_ away from the worst of the turbulence.

A couple of short circuits threw sparks into the cabin and created smoke but Marou's clawed fingers tapped across his console at a blur to counteract the failures. I was glad he was so good at his job.

I grabbed onto the overhead safety rail with both hands as Doulie abruptly swerved us into a corkscrew but it did nothing to stop my stomach from doing flips. By the time I recognized the feeling of vomit rising, it was too late to hold it back. I doubled over and heaved onto the floor. I felt a hand pat me on the back as I convulsed and saw Nessa in my peripherals. She gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze and held me steady until we leveled out.

I spit to get the horrible taste out of my mouth and pulled myself back upright. "Sorry," I said, trying not to let my embarrassment get the best of me.

"Thanks for not getting any on me," she replied.

"Just a little longer," Doulie said, over his shoulder. The window was cooled now but we were still in a cloud of smoke.

"Doulie!" Marou yelled out suddenly, as a couple of people wearing familiar armor appeared in the sky right out front.

I felt the crunch and saw blood splatter across the windshield as we plowed right through them. We were moving so fast that they never stood a chance. A warning buzzer began to blare on repeat until Marou pressed something and made it stop but I wasn't concerned with that. All I could do was stare at the entrails that were sliding up the window as we continued our descent.

"Whew," Doulie said, sounding relieved. "That could've been a whole lot worse."

"Hurry up and get us on the ground already," Turles groused.

The ground. That sounded perfect right about now. I needed something solid to steady myself against. If my stomach weren't already empty, I'd probably be yakking again. I'd never seen something so gory nor had I ever had the desire.

"I don't like this, Turles. Ranma is going to be a liability in the field. Look at her," Amond said, nodding in my direction. "She looks like she's never even seen a man disemboweled before. What happens if she freezes up when we encounter resistance? I'll tell you. She's either going to die or get one of us killed."

A part of me wanted to defend myself and tell him he had no business making assumptions about my competence. Another, larger, part of me thought he might be right and worried that I might make myself look worse by opening my mouth. I decided to keep quiet.

"If that happens, then it's on you, Amond," Turles replied, glaring at him challengingly. "I put you in charge of making sure she doesn't die prematurely, remember?"

"I remember," Amond said, looking quite upset, as he folded his arms over his chest. "If I'm on babysitting duty, then do I have full discretion to make any call that I deem critical to the success of this mission?"

"As long as it doesn't involve holding any ridiculous poses or choreography, you're fine," Turles said, waving him off.

"Thank you," Amond said, relaxing a bit.

"We're through the worst of it," Doulie said.

I perked up, finally hearing some good news, and saw that we were descending into a rocky canyon that cut through a dense green forest. The blue sky and reddish brown soil reminded me a lot of earth. If not for the smear of guts still tinting the glass, it would've been the most beautiful sight I'd seen in awhile.

We dipped below the tree line and Marou elbowed Doulie while pointing toward a massive waterfall at the end of the trench. "Try that," he said.

"That's perfect," Doulie replied before he brought us right through the cascade and into a hidden alcove. Within moments, I felt the soft jolt of the landing gear making contact with the ground.

"Alright, people," Turles started, reaching under his seat and pulling out a box before standing up. "We know the _Nebula_ is hiding somewhere in this hemisphere. Marou and Doulie will stay behind to try to narrow it down as well as run scans for changes to its core signature that might indicate they're getting ready to run. I've preloaded all of our scouters with the exact bio signature of Elarya but we're gonna have to be really close to detect her. The _Nebula_ is a huge ship, so there's not many places she can hide it considering the circumstances."

Everyone, except Doulie and Marou, grabbed a scouter from the box as Turles held it out for them. When he approached me, I took one but knew it was gonna be a problem as soon as I held the lens up against my face. "I can't read any of this."

"You can't read Galactic basic?" he asked. There was disbelief on his face until he saw that I was being sincere. Then it was just disappointment. He sighed, shaking his head. "Well, just stay close to Amond, then."

I sighed, feeling my shoulders sag, and just nodded my head. I was way past regretting coming along. All I was concerned about now was surviving this. Since I was the most inexperienced in this situation, the best thing I could do was follow orders.

"Don't worry," Nessa said, patting the top of my head. "I've got your back too, little sister."

I wanted to roll my eyes and insist that I wasn't anyone's little sister, but I could tell she was being earnest and was genuinely concerned for my survival. A comforting sort of warmth blossomed from within before I was stricken with a sudden tightness in my chest. It took me a moment to realize that she'd gotten to me. Here she was, the last of her kind, and she was still concerned with my survival even though hers held more weight. If I died, by comparison, it was no big deal. I reached out and took one of her hands into my own.

"Nessa," I said, looking her dead in the eyes. "Don't worry about me. Just make sure you and Chist get through this, alright?" I was practically an adult and could take care of myself if push came to shove, anyway. Besides that, I'd always managed to find ways of surviving bad situations. There was no reason to assume this time would be any different.

"Save the sappy shit for off hours," Amond said. "We got work to do."

The door hissed open, retracting into the floor, and everyone began filing out. Nessa patted my shoulder before stepping out. I was about to follow until Amond stepped in the way to block me, shaking his head. Other than Doulie and Marou, who were busy in the cockpit, it was just the two of us left in the cabin. I tensed up, not sure if he was going to try something.

"What now?" I asked, standing my ground. I didn't want to backpedal and seem weak.

He reached into the satchel he had strapped over his shoulder and withdrew a pear-shaped fruit that was magenta with lumps all over it. "Eat this," he said, holding it out for me.

"What is it?" I asked, wary of accepting anything from him.

"It's fruit," he deadpanned.

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously."

"It's not poison, if that's what you're wondering. If I wanted to hurt you, I'd do it the old fashioned way. This fruit is meant to give you a boost so you're less of a hindrance."

"What kind of boost?"

He clenched his jaw, suddenly seeming very irritated. "We don't have time for all of your questions. If you don't take it, then I'll force it down your throat. You have five seconds."

I snatched the thing out of his hands and, using the speed eating technique I'd learned from Picolet Chardin, gobbled it down. I wiped some of the juice off of my chin while making sure he saw my death glare. I was going to add a scathing remark but, as I began forming the words, a wave of adrenaline crashed into me like a speeding bus.

(**)

I doubled over, catching my hands on my knees, and gasped as I felt my ki surging stronger than it ever had. It was almost out of control. I was literally wreathed in visible purple flames.

Amond tapped a button on his scouter and the thing beeped rapidly before petering out. "Eleven hundred. That'll have to do, then."

My heart was thundering so loud I could literally hear my own pulse. My breathing came in ragged huffs, my muscles coiled, and I growled something primal. I was overflowing with so much raw energy that it was painful to stand still. I needed to move, to run, to fly and to fight. The urge was so strong, it bordered on instinctual. The only thing I could equate it to was the Neko-Ken and its untamed quality. That thought brought with it a deep spike of fear; fear that the surge of power had stirred the beast inside of me without the usual trigger. If it woke up now, then I'd black out and everyone around would be in danger.

I clenched my eyes shut and chanted a mantra in my head hoping that would help calm me down. This isn't the pit. This isn't the pit. This isn't the pit. This _ISN'T_ the _PIT_. The pit. The pit. The pit. The _PIT_.

I was back inside the pit, tied up and suspended from a rope. Dozens upon dozens of glowing eyes pierced me with their gaze. I heard a mewl and a shiver ran up my spine. The thrashing was imminent if I didn't do something. The only way to stop them, though, was to become one of them. I struggled beneath my bindings as they began to close in. The ropes dissolved into confetti right as they began to leap toward me and I reached forward to bat them aside. As I did so, I noticed my hands were different. I had claws. Had I always had claws? Well, they felt like they belonged, so probably. I batted, clawed, slashed and bit my way through the resistance as I bounced up the walls of the pit toward the light. The light meant freedom. It also meant comfort and safety. There were so many enemies trying to stop me, though. I tried to be kind and only hurt them but they were relentless. They left me with no choice but to switch to using lethal strikes. If I killed enough of them, then maybe the others would stop coming. Finally, after what seemed like an endless onslaught, I reached the top. I crawled out from under the lid and saw the old lady waiting for me under the tree with a blanket on her lap meant for me.

A nap seemed like exactly what I needed right about now.

OoooooO

36 hours ago...

Gine held the bone end of the skinned hind quarter down against the table top with her left hand while her right had the cleaver poised for a heavy chop. Before she could deliver her swing, though, someone barged into her butchering hut and knocked over her bin of scraps that was adjacent to the door. She lowered her arm when she saw it was Choy, her shift leader.

Choy was an elder Saiyan woman at the latter edge of her prime with a streak of gray running through her shock of untamed hair. She also had a flare for the dramatic and would frequently engage in gossip. While it wasn't unusual for her to intrude on someone's work, she didn't usually do it while wearing full battle armor.

"What's going on?" Gine asked her, as the beginnings of unease stirred.

"We've been reactivated," Choy said, cutting straight to the chase. As if to make sure the bandage was fully ripped off, she continued. "You've got thirty minutes to suit up and meet at the capital."

Gine let the cleaver drop to the floor as her arms went slack. This shouldn't be happening. "Why us?" she asked. "There's plenty of other squads with higher combat qualifications."

"It's not just us. The entire support division is being recalled. There's a full scale invasion on Solista so it's all hands on deck."

"Solista?" Gine had only a passing familiarity with that place but knew enough to be boggled by such news. "There's nothing there but a bunch of star worshiping fanatics, right?"

"Don't know, don't care," Choy replied, shrugging. "I'm just excited to finally see some action again."

Of course she would be, Gine thought. Choy hadn't been assigned to the support division by choice, after all. "I'll uh... be right behind you, then," she said.

"Don't be late. Official assignments are supposed be handed out during the general assembly," Choy said on her way out.

Gine waited until Choy was out of earshot before kicking a leg out from under her work table to vent some frustration. The whole slab of meat, as well as some smaller chunks that had just been carved off, tumbled to the floor as the table collapsed. She didn't care.

She spun around and knelt beside the storage cabinet fixed to the wall before withdrawing her custom made two way communicator from a drawer at the very bottom. She flipped it open and waited for the static to be replaced by a live video image of her mate. Bardock's face appeared against the background of padded cushioning. He was inside of an attack pod.

"Gine, I told you not to contact me on this channel unless it was an emergency," he said, in lieu of an actual greeting. "I'm literally about to land."

"Is it Solista?" she asked. He looked surprised for a second before acknowledging her with a nod. "Then I guess I'll be seeing you again sooner than we thought. Support division has just been conscripted."

"What?" he said, eyes going wide. "That's insane. No one with a power level under two-thousand should be allowed anywhere near Solista. Their military is strongest on their home turf. Hell, even my crew is only just barely being allowed into the second wave."

"Obviously they don't care, Bardock." Gine took a moment to blow out her breath of frustration and run a hand through her mane of hair. "I mean, if they're pulling support onto the battlefield, then you know it's almost guaranteed they're going to throw junior infantry into the mix as well."

Bardock was silent for several minutes while he contemplated. Anger, concern and desperation danced across his face as he considered the outcomes. "Raditz could benefit from you being there, you know. Assuming you're able to link up with him in time."

Gine furrowed her brow, casting her eyes to the side. "But, if I'm tapped, I can't keep an eye on Kakarot. His low power level has him on the long range pod list. What if his incubation programming finishes before I get back? I can't intervene in the launch if I'm away."

"Solista's tough but not impossible," Bardock said. "We'll make sure it doesn't drag out."

Gine stared into Bardock's eyes for a long time, finding a small comfort in the silence. "I hope you're right," she said, finally.

"Listen to me," Bardock said. "Don't worry about the mission. At that level, whoever's platoon you end up attached to won't care as long as you go through the motions. Do the bare minimum to get by and find Raditz. Then, make sure you both survive."

"I love you," Gine said, spontaneously.

"Don't die," he said, in reply. He cut the feed from his end a moment later.

Bardock had always been uncomfortable with her openness so she was used to being left hanging. It didn't matter. She knew he felt the same. Gine clapped the communicator shut and stuffed it into the pocket of her brown cloth dress. It would come in handy later; she was sure of it.

She exited the hut, leaving the mess as it was, and took to the air. By flight, her dwelling was only a couple of minutes away. Once inside, she went straight for her closet and threw the door open. There were a handful of the same plain cloth dresses that she currently wore, one formal armored uniform, and a standard battlefield armor. She took the battle armored chestplate and slid it over her dress which left the bottom portion flared out like a skirt. Her slippers were flung off unceremoniously and replaced with knee high boots. She didn't bother with the mirror other than to make sure that she looked professional enough to fit in.

A photo of her, Bardock and Raditz, which rested on the end table beside her bed, caught her eye as she made her way out. She paused just long enough to burn the image into her mind and then continued on her way.

12 hours ago...

Gine was shocked back into consciousness when the needle containing a war cocktail was injected into her neck. She found herself laying in a coffin-sized cabin and it took her a moment to remember that she was aboard a fourth wave drop ship. The drugs were fast acting so she was keyed up within minutes. She climbed out of the capsule just as a number of her peers were doing the same. The group she was a part of filed shoulder to shoulder along a cramped corridor until they made their way to a cargo bay with one massive folding door at the far end.

A holo projection recording of Captain Ginyu took the place of an actual field commander for their briefing. "Fourth wave, listen up. We've done the hard part for you. Now we're relying on you to clean up the stragglers and eliminate any guerrilla insurgents that might have penetrated our established lines. Remember, failure isn't an option."

There was a general lack of enthusiasm in the response from those gathered but no one was apparently willing to openly express dissatisfaction with their situation. The doors opened a moment later and allowed the fast moving wind of the high atmosphere into the bay. Gine was among the first to jump out of the ship.

45 minutes ago...

They'd been patrolling the claimed territory since dawn and found nothing but ruins. Every village, town and city they'd come across had been either still aflame or in ashes. The rural town they were in now was mostly leveled with pockets of flame still smoldering and glowing embers being blown about the smoky air. It hurt Gine a little bit to see so many trees burnt down as well, especially considering they were a rarity on Vegeta's comparatively barren surface. She and her squad of ten still hadn't seen a Solistian that was more than an unrecognizable corpse, either, so she didn't even know what to expect if she ran into a living example.

"Hold up," Buska said, raising his right arm with a closed fist to signal a halt to everyone trailing behind him. He was a tall blonde haired Brench, formerly a cook, who had been put in charge of their ragtag platoon simply because his power level was ten points higher than the more qualified Choy. His caution was something Gine welcomed, though. "I think my scouter just blipped."

They halted their in-line formation against a partially intact wall of stone dwelling and Buska carefully peered around the corner.

"Not this again," Choy grumbled. "If we keep crawling along and playing it safe every time a bird flies by, we'll never make it to the rendezvous in time. The faster we finish this, the sooner we can be moved closer to the front line."

Buska glared back at her over his shoulder. "We'll take as long as we need, Choy. The mission is to do a complete sweep of every population center in this area – no shortcuts."

All of a sudden, everyone's scouters began to chime with increasing rapidity.

"Contact," Muric said, in a loud whisper. He was another older Saiyan who had been shunted off to support after his prime had passed. He was still imposing despite his white hair having mostly fallen out on top and the stockiness he'd packed on in recent years. "Multiple pings over fifteen-hundred just beyond that ridge," he added, pointing to the rocky hills on the southern outskirts.

Gine went rigid with anxiety. The average power level of her platoon was only twelve hundred and she was on the lower end with only one thousand. She switched the settings on her scouter to display a scrolling list of individual potential enemy combatants and counted twenty-five before the screen abruptly defaulted to a new signal alert. A power level of over four-thousand was approaching that larger group. As soon as it did, the smaller ones began to rapidly disappear. Explosions began to rock the ground and she saw the light of several ki blasts cut through the smoky haze. There was a lot of screaming as well. It was a slaughter.

A thunderclap made her flinch just before a strong gust of wind cut through all of the smoke and dust surrounding them. Right behind it, moving almost faster than she could see, was a knife-edged blade of red ki. She barely managed to avoid it by diving to the ground and rolling into a somersault. Several members of her platoon shrieked, presumably unable to avoid the attack. She skidded to a halt, back on her feet again, and turned to see that Muric and everyone standing behind him had been vertically bisected. Their corpses remained standing for a split second, horror etched onto their faces, before they literally fell apart.

Buska landed beside her, nursing a deep cut on his left tricep, but seemed otherwise okay. A war cry pierced the air and they both looked up to see Choy in the air with a ball of ki charged up between her gloved palms. She thrust both hands forward and sent the hot energy careening toward the ridge where the surprise attack had come from.

Gine watched, in shock, as the ki ball was slashed diagonally in half by another red blade of ki before exploding and incinerating the rocky knoll that had been obstructing their view of the bloodbath on the other side. Dirt and gravel cascaded back to the ground as gravity reasserted itself but it was thin enough to see the silhouette of something through it. Another explosion appeared behind it and the light briefly crystalized the image. A feral creature on all fours spun to avoid the glowing fist of a surviving Solistian and sliced his wings off with a single clawed strike. The Solistian lashed out with a spinning elbow but had his arm sliced clean off before the beast got his neck. He tried to scream but was instantly silenced when the pressure was applied. His limp body was shaken like a rag doll before being tossed aside.

Choy landed beside her and Buska. "On three," she said, raising her hands palm out.

Buska nodded and lifted his injured arm while still applying pressure with his other hand. Gine shook her head and backpedaled. "This is wrong. We should run," she said.

"A real Saiyan would go out fighting," Choy barked at her, letting her disgust show.

"Let her go," Buska said. "If she can't even stare death in the face with defiance, then we don't want her."

Choy spat at Gine's feet and turned back toward the slowly advancing creature. "One... two... THREE!"

Gine took off full tilt in the opposite direction as her two comrades unleashed everything they had. Their war cries were cut short and replaced with the wet sounds of flesh being rended. She didn't dare look back. That didn't stop her from being tackled from behind, though. The force of that thing latching onto her sent them both into a roll that ended with her on her back in a ditch. She'd scrunched her eyes shut to avoid seeing the gaping maw she imagined was about to bite her head off but, when it didn't immediately happen, she dared to take a peek. She was not at all prepared for what she saw.

The thing pinning her down was a feral looking girl with bright blue hair and glowing yellow eyes with slitted pupils. She was clad in a variation of Saiyan armor and had a ragged brown scarf loosely tied around her neck. She was also covered in a sick combination of dirt caked with blood. The claws, which were glowing red, pierced her armor but stopped just short of digging into her abdomen. Gine was completely and totally at this girl's mercy so she didn't even try to resist. For some reason, her lack of hostility seemed to calm the girl and her low growling gradually transformed into something more akin to a purr.

Before Gine knew it, the girl, who clearly thought she was some sort of animal, curled into a ball on top of her and began napping.

OoooooO

I woke up feeling more rested than I had in ages. Something warm and soft was wrapped around me as well. It almost felt like a hug. I slowly peeled my eyes open, saw someone's shoulder, and realized my head was nuzzled under this stranger's chin and that they had their arms around my back. It took all of one second for me to go rigid and enter panic mode. Whatever this was, it wasn't normal. It definitely wasn't where I was supposed to be, either. Where was I again? Oh, right. Some alien planet called Solista. Not earth.

I jerked backward to break loose from the embrace and saw a petite young woman with shaggy black hair pinned beneath me. She yawned, looking quite groggy, and rubbed at her eyes before staring up at me. She was wearing armor that was similar to mine but with a white and tan color scheme. The fabric of her brown skirt was bunched up between my legs and it suddenly occurred to me that I was straddling her. This was exactly the sort of compromising position that would've gotten me in trouble back home. I jumped to my feet and she reacted by going into full alertness, crawling backward before raising her arms over her face in a defensive gesture.

"Please don't kill me!" she yelled. There was an obvious note of fear in her voice.

"Kill you?" That was the last thing I'd ever expected a woman who, only minutes before, had been cuddling me. "Why in the hell would I do that?"

She dropped her arms and her jaw, while looking at me as if I'd grown a second head.

"Is there something wrong with my face?" I asked, sarcastically. She wouldn't stop staring.

"Y-You can... talk?"

"Yeah. So can you, apparently. Mind telling me what all that was about?" I added, gesturing to the spot between us where we'd been very close.

"You don't remember?" she asked, looking even more bewildered.

I sighed. The last thing I remembered was Amond giving me that fruit and then... oh shit. I only ever blacked out when the Neko-Ken took over. If I woke up on this girl, then that meant she had calmed me down and brought me out. If she was capable of that, then maybe I could afford to trust her a little bit.

"How can I put this lightly? I sort of, occasionally, have times where I go into a berserker state if the right conditions are met. Didn't think that would ever happen all the way out in space without c-c-ca- without furry demon spawn around. You're not hurt are you?" When she shook her head, it was a massive weight off of my shoulders. "That's a relief."

"Gine," she said, still a bit wary.

"Huh?" I asked.

"That's my name," she amended.

"Oh! Nice to meet you, Gine. I'm Ranma," I said, offering her a hand up. She very hesitantly took it and, once she was back on her feet, took a moment to dust off her skirt.

"Are you with the second wave?" she asked.

It took me a moment to connect the dots behind her meaning. She was talking about the invading force. Of course she was. She had a Saiyan's tail and was wearing a soldier's armor – meaning she worked for the Kold Force. I mentally slapped my head and blurted the first thing I could think of to avoid being pegged as an enemy. "I'm on a separate mission," I said, channeling my ki to provide a few inches of lift off.

"Special Ops?" she asked, doing the same.

"Something like that." As long as I avoided specifics, I'd probably get away okay. I needed to link back up with Turles' crew as soon as possible, though. I started floating upward to get out of the ditch.

"So, it's classified then?" she asked, practically on my heels.

I shrugged. "All I can say is the less you know, the better off we'll both be."

Gine sighed. "Does that mean you don't want me to tag along?"

I paused. "Why do you want to tag along?"

"My entire squad is dead and I'm not exactly the most capable in the field – especially alone. Besides, what if you go berserk again? You won't calm down unless you're comforted. Now that I know how to do that, I can help you."

She was persistent, I had to give her that. Still, she was part of the invasion. "Sorry, I don't think that's going to work for me."

She looked absolutely crestfallen before transitioning into full-on desperation. "Please, Ranma. I have a son who's out there somewhere being forced to fight in this stupid war. I'll never survive long enough to get to him if I'm on my own."

She thought the war was stupid? That didn't sound like something a loyal soldier would say. "Hang on a second; did you just say you've got a kid that's being forced to participate in this?"

She nodded, wiping a stray tear from her dirt smudged face. "He's in the junior infantry. He's only seven."

I felt rage bubble up inside me again. This Kold guy and his whole operation was sick. "Gine, I lied to you earlier. I'm not special ops or anything. I don't even work for the Kold Force. I'm technically a mercenary. Me and my team are just here to repo a stolen ship. None of us are okay with these purge wars, though, and we're gonna stop them eventually but we can't do that unless we find that ship and get off this planet as soon as possible. If you come with me, I'll try and help you find your son along the way but my number one priority is to complete the mission."

Gine looked contemplative for several minutes and, for a moment, I thought she might change her mind. Instead, she blew out a breath of relief and got a steely look of resolve on her face. "That sounds a hell of a lot better than the alternative. I'm with you," she said.

I nodded and she returned the gesture. "Now I just need to figure out where we are so I can retrace my steps back to the crew. Do you know if there's a giant gorge with a waterfall around here?"

She perked up instantly. "I saw one from the drop ship when I arrived. It's on the other side of the plateau, due east."

"That's where we're headed then."


	7. Advance & Retreat

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Chapter Seven: Advance & Retreat**

We flew low, staying in the thinner part of the upper canopy of the forest that spanned the majority of the plateau. It was the best path for a combination of speed and cover. Still, it was slower than I would've liked. Trying to avoid getting whipped in the face with leafy branches was annoying.

"Hold up," I said, raising a hand to signal Gine. There was something just up ahead giving me an uneasy feeling and it wasn't my less than adequate ki sense telling me that. It was familiar, though. Like an itch I couldn't scratch. It took me a moment to realize what it was and, when I did, I alighted onto a mostly barren tree branch. "There's magic nearby."

Gine touched down right beside me. "Magic?" she asked, sounding skeptical. Clearly, she had little to no experience with it. I just nodded while trying to focus on it's source. "How can you be sure?"

"I've been exposed to so much magic over the years that I can sense it without even trying, unlike ki."

"Wait, you can sense ki without tech?" she asked.

"Theoretically, everyone who uses ki can. It just takes effort and constant practice. But we're getting off topic. Magic is dangerous. Oh shit..."

"What now?" she asked. I could see her tensing up from the corner of my vision.

I'd finally honed in on the source of the magic, which had been difficult because it seemed to be moving extremely fast. There were three separate signatures closing in on us and we were surrounded. I scrunched up my brow, putting the extra effort in, and felt hostile intent coming through their ki auras. Our chances of winning a direct fight were slim at best.

"Ranma, talk to me. What's happening?" Gine said, sounding worried.

I raised my hands into what I hoped was considered the universal gesture of surrender and then whispered back to her. "Follow my lead." She seemed hesitant so I reiterated. "Do it now if you don't wanna die."

Gine immediately complied and brought her hands up just before a person appeared before us in a flicker of speed, floating above the tree line. My peripherals picked up two more people phasing in on either side of us a second later. All three had varying shades of purple skin, sharply pointed ears, and wings resembling a dragonfly that also coordinated with their odd colors of hair. They were each clad in similarly styled loose fitting green garments akin to what monks of the Shaolin temple wore during their initiation period. Also worthy of note was that they all appeared to be kids. Technically I was still a kid, too, but I was just one birthday shy of adulthood. The oldest of this trio, a boy with long silver hair that was bound into a pony tail, didn't look a day over fifteen. The girl to his left, who had hair the color of desert sand cropped into a short bowl cut, couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen. The little boy covering the opposite side, who had bone white hair in a slicked back mohawk, I had pegged at a maximum of ten years old.

All three had hands and eyes glowing hot with pure white energy ready to be unleashed.

"Hey hey hey, calm down guys... we come in peace. We don't wanna fight. We're actually just trying to get off of this planet. These are the Solistians, right?" I added, whispering to Gine under my breath.

She nodded in reply.

"My name is Ranma and this is my friend, Gine," I added, nodding in her direction. I struggled to resist rolling my eyes when she smiled and waved at them. The two oldest kids remained steady but their energy noticeably dimmed in response.

The youngest, however, turned the heat up. "You can't fool us, Kold scum!" he said, launching an optical blast at us.

I shoved Gine aside and dove in the opposite direction, escaping with little more than singed clothing. The tree branch wasn't so lucky, though. It was sawdust and embers. "Wait!" I shouted, bringing my hands up again as soon as I recovered my balance. "Please hear me out for just a moment!"

"Yeurio," the sandy haired Solistian girl said. "Let her speak. I sense no hostility from her. If you pay attention, you'll see it too."

"Bullshit!" Yeurio replied, charging up another blast.

"Yeurio, stop!" the older Solistian boy said, making the younger flinch. "Oleera's right."

"Boreau?" Yeurio said, wavering.

"You may speak, Ranma," Boreau said, nodding at me.

I hovered near the tree I'd been perched on earlier, just in case I needed to use it's cover again. Gine was doing the same nearby. "We know this is an unjust war," I said. "We don't have the power to stop it, though, so our only option is to run. Let us go on our way and we'll forget we ever saw you."

"So, you guys are deserters then?" Boreau asked. He looked contemplative as he said that.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Gine said, shrugging.

"If they're deserters, then they're still guilty!" Yeurio said, still angry. "How many people do you think they killed before they decided to quit? Besides, their kind doesn't care if we actually want to fight or not; they'd let non-combatants just leave instead of murdering them if they did. They don't deserve our consideration!"

I tensed up, using my peripherals to glance at Gine. I should've told her to keep her mouth shut. If she had, then I would've been able to pass us both off as pirates.

"He's kind of got a point there," the girl, Oleera, said as she rubbed her chin – seemingly in thought. "I mean, I don't like the idea of killing them either but, if we let them go, they could end up telling others about us. We do have people to protect, after all."

Boreau furrowed his brow, scrunching his eyes shut. "No. If we let this conflict take away our defining principles, then what are we fighting to protect? What's life without mercy? What's life without a second chance? They've already surrendered. If we kill them, we're no better than they are."

A part of me was insulted that I was so easily being lumped in with those who'd withhold mercy or execute people out of convenience. They didn't even know me. Even Gine, who I'd just met, didn't seem like that type. Despite that, I sort of understood where they were coming from.

Yeurio blew out a breath of frustration. "So what then? Are we supposed to take them back to our camp? That's stupid, not to mention dangerous."

"It's the only option," Boreau said, opening his eyes once again. I released the breath I'd been holding, grateful that, for the moment, we weren't going to be killed. "We'll keep them bound until we've moved on so they won't be able to follow us."

I was going to protest that restraints weren't necessary but the itching buzz of magic flared up again. Boreau pointed at me with two fore fingers and thumb in the shape of a pistol and shot me with a bluish white bolt. It was so shocking that I thought I'd been burned until I looked down and found crystals of ice crawling up my body from the feet. Within seconds, it was at my neck. I looked to my left and saw Gine in a similar state. Before I could blink, the veil of frozen covered my face. I blacked out almost immediately.

OoooooO

Bardock shielded his eyes as a spray of bluish white flames cut a hole through the offensive line. A flock of Kold soldiers, of all races, were disintegrated in an instant. Several of them had been wielding energy weapons which, upon combusting, started a chain reaction of explosions that quickly grew out of control. It took him a moment to realize that the particle canon he'd taken cover behind probably wasn't the best place to be with a wave of destruction rolling in his direction. He grabbed the two Saiyans next to him by their scruff and shot forward in a frantic dash away from the deathtrap. Not even a moment later, a thundering boom and wave of heat crashed against his backside which made him lose his grip on his comrades before sending them all sailing uncontrollably toward a rocky cliff face at the rear end of the battlefield. He crashed face-first into a boulder, cracking it open, and was summarily buried under a pile of dirt, gravel and smoldering debris.

One of the soldiers he'd grabbed groaned which gave him something to focus on. It took nearly a full minute for him to shake off the daze enough to muster the effort and move his body. When he did, he used what little leverage he had to push the largest hunk of rock off of himself which resulted in the upper half of his body being mostly freed. With the obstruction removed, he was able to lean out of the depression enough to see both of his brethren in a similar state. The one to his left, who was still groaning, had both legs and his tail jutting out from a pile of rubble. The one to his right was buried so deep that only a single forearm and gloved hand was visible.

"You two alright?" he asked.

"Bardock, is that you?"

"Chardo?" Bardock asked. He'd been so preoccupied with the situation that he hadn't paid attention to exactly who he'd grabbed onto.

"Yeah, I'm here," the man replied. Chardo was a long time acquaintance of his. Because of their similar ages, they'd been through a lot of the same training together and teamed up on and off over the years. "Still have all my limbs attached, too."

"Oh, did your dick grow back finally? Congrats," Bardock said, sarcastically, as he resumed digging himself out.

"No, I had it surgically reattached after meeting your mom, actually. She was generous enough to donate hers to a good cause," Chardo quipped right back.

"Will you two fuck boys quit it with all the cock talk and help me outta here?"

Bardock immediately recognized her voice as his ex. "Shit, Celipa," he replied, grinning despite himself. "If I'd known you were there, I'd have grabbed someone else."

"I love you too, asshole," she replied, putting on a sweet voice. "Now hurry up and get me outta here!"

He and Chardo took a few moments to extricate themselves completely, during which Bardock noticed that his thinner companion had cut off the rat tail mullet he'd been born with and opted for the straight up spiky fade. It was a bold move for a pure Saiyan since their hair would never grow back in. They then teamed up to yank Celipa out by her one protruding arm, since she was so thoroughly dug in that she couldn't move her body.

Celipa enveloped Bardock in a hug the moment she was free, which caught him off guard enough to leave him open. She followed up with a knee to his groin a second later. "The first one was a thank you," she said, stepping back so she could begin to dust herself off.

"You're so kind..." Bardock said, through gritted teeth, as he squeezed his legs together.

"Guys... you need to see this," Chardo said, pointing back toward the front line. Bardock and Celipa turned their heads toward where he had pointed and fell silent as they took in the aftermath of all the carnage.

The entire valley was little more than blackened soil dotted with glowing embers and smoking corpses. The far end, in the enemy's territory, was still protected by a luminescent shield of magical energy which had served to protect the thick forest behind it. Clearly, the high energy weapons they'd imported hadn't done enough to destabilize their barrier. A large orb, containing six Solistian warrior monks defending a seventh spell caster, floated prominently overhead just outside the shield. They were searching for survivors to pick off.

"We should fall back and join up with the reinforcements," Chardo said.

"Yeah... good idea," Celipa replied while reaching a hand up to her scouter, presumably to check in with the cavalry. "Fuck. This piece of shit is dead. You guys' still up?"

Chardo checked his and, almost immediately, shook his head in the negative.

"Mine's fried too," Bardock said, with a sigh. "We can just head toward their last known location. Hopefully we'll run into them on the way. Come on, let's get moving before those monks spot us. Stay on the ground until we've lost them."

The other two nodded and all three took off on foot, staying low and using the terrain for cover. They traced the base of the cliff face until they reached the mouth of a gorge – where a shallow ravine flowed over a bed of small rocks. The trees and underbrush were mostly untouched there, so they retreated into the thicket and followed a trail parallel to the water. Eventually, they reached a waterfall and decided it was safe enough to take to the air.

"Wait a sec," Bardock said, stopping them with hand gesture, as they began their ascent. "There's something behind this waterfall. I can hear it." It was an electric buzzing with intermittent pauses.

"We don't have time for one of your pranks, dude. We seriously gotta move," Chardo insisted.

Bardock ignored his friend and proceeded to carry himself through the curtain of rushing water. When he got to the other side, he saw a sleek looking chrome polished ship with a gouge cut out of it near the opened hatch. There was a splatter of blood staining the metal around the opening as well. Through the opening, he could see that there was a flickering light shining on and off in sync with the buzzing. It's light cast a shadow with an outline vaguely resembling a person. Celipa came through the waterfall behind him and Chardo was right behind her.

"Hello?" Bardock said, tentatively.

"Whoever you are, approach at your own peril!" a man shouted back, his voice echoing off of the walls. He sounded frazzled and more than a little on edge. The next moment, a blonde furred wolfman, a Phangu if Bardock recalled correctly, stuck his head out of the door wielding a plasma torch threateningly. "Kold soldiers, I see. This is a mark six Orion Corporation plasma welder with an optical magnification rig, customized by me. If I so choose, I can instantly discharge the energy stored in the capacitors and melt you all faster than you can cry out for your mothers."

"The fuck is a Phangu doing on Solista? Especially in the middle of this shit fest," Celipa asked, clearly unconcerned with the threat.

"Relax, fella," Bardock said, addressing the Phangu. The man's hands were trembling slightly and Bardock suspected he might be exaggerating about the potency of his makeshift weapon. Still, it was never wise to make assumptions. "We got no problem with you unless you make one."

"Why are you here, then?" the wolfman asked.

"Bardock, let's just go," Chardo whispered in his direction. "Whatever he's doing it's none of our business."

"Believe it or not, we just stumbled upon this place," Bardock replied to the Phagnu, ignoring Chardo. "Solistians roasted our battalion so we're on retreat. Ya know... now that I think about it, there's something you might be able to help us with."

"You assume I would offer my assistance," the Phangu replied. "Clearly, you misjudge me."

"I'm not assuming shit, pal. I'm asking," Bardock replied, slightly miffed. "I usually just take what I want, so you're being given a rare courtesy here. Don't be an idiot."

After a long pause, the Phangu sighed and lowered his torch. "What sort of aid do you require?"

"Our scouters are fried. What do you have in the way of communications equipment?"


	8. Alliances

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Chapter Eight: Alliances**

"What do you suppose happened here?" Celipa asked, whispering into Bardock's ear as they watched the Phangu work. He was meticulously dismantling their scouters to assess the damage.

The two of them were inside the ship's cabin while Chardo was keeping watch outside of the waterfall alcove.

"Somebody died, obviously," Bardock replied, not bothering to lower his voice. Phangu people had senses more acute than typical sentients so there was no point trying to be surreptitious. "With the amount of blood coverage, I'd say they got chunked. Am I right, Phangu?"

"I have already told you my name is Marou. Kindly drop the blatant disrespect and use it or-"

"Or what?" Bardock said, cutting him off. He glared at the man until he backed down.

"I cannot believe he is related to Turles..." the Phangu grumbled under his breath, clearly assuming Bardock wouldn't catch it.

"What did you just say?" Bardock asked, reaching out to grip the Phangu's nearest arm. "Do you know Turles?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," he replied, jerking his arm free. "Now, if you will be so kind as to give me my space, I can finish restoring your scouters. Your mindless chatter has been quite a distraction."

"How do you know him?" Bardock asked, ignoring his request.

Marou sighed, setting down his soldering iron on the makeshift work bench behind the cockpit. "If you must know, he is the captain of this ship."

"Heh... so he's still running around pretending to be a pirate then," Bardock said. "I guess that's better than being dead."

"Wasn't he exiled by the king?" Celipa asked.

"A long time ago," Bardock replied. "He got soft and tried to save some of the locals on a purge planet. His commanding officer caught him in the act and brought him in."

Celipa stifled a laugh. "Wow, what an idiot. What kind of Saiyan does something like that anyway?"

Marou growled, glaring at her. "For your information, woman, my family and I were among those he saved. If not for Turles, I would not be assisting you here at this very moment. You should reevaluate what it means to be a Saiyan."

Celipa scowled, standing up from her seat on the bench, and made to lunge in his direction. Bardock stepped in her way at the last second, placing a hand on her left shoulder to arrest her movement. He shook his head as he held her back. "Bardock?" she asked, confused.

"Marou's not wrong," Bardock said. "But neither are we. Turles was stupid for acting so impulsively. Because he let emotion dictate his actions, he failed to think and plan ahead. He could've saved a lot more people if only he'd been playing the long game."

"Bardock, you... are you serious?" Celipa asked, stepping back.

"I've been sick of fighting someone else's battles for a long time now, Celipa. What Kold has us doing is just making him richer and able to control more of the galaxy. He's made the Saiyan race his bitch. The more innocent people we slaughter, the less potential allies we have to back us up in the future. Aren't you tired of not being in control of your own destiny?"

Celipa stepped back, lowering her gaze to the floor. "I... I don't know. I guess I just assumed it didn't matter. I mean, in our line of work, no one ever lives that long anyway..."

"That's exactly the way they want you to think," Bardock said. "If we all assume it's futile, then no one will ever have the balls to stand up and fight back. The king certainly doesn't."

"If you really believe that, then why haven't you gone rogue like Turles?" she asked, getting a wild look in her eyes. "I mean, don't the Solistian's qualify as slaughtered innocents? They'd be powerful allies, wouldn't they?"

"It's not that simple," Bardock replied, casting his eyes down. "If I didn't fight strong opponents like them, then I'd miss out on the opportunity for a Zenkai. The whole point of continuing this charade is to gain strength enough to be able to gather followers. It's how King Vegeta got where he is. War is the only way to do that, unfortunately."

"What if there was another way?" Marou interjected, lifting his head to make eye contact with Bardock.

OoooooO

I regained consciousness abruptly, falling to my hands and knees when the block of ice I had been cocooned in turned to water. The stone floor beneath me was cold, muddy and, as soon as I touched it, made me drowsy. I immediately pulled my hands away and stood up but could still feel a slight drain coming through the soles of my boots. It was clear that this dungeonesque cell was enchanted to wear its occupants down to the point of not being able to resist. The longer I stayed here, the worse it would get.

I closed my eyes and focused on feeling out my surroundings with ki. It was difficult because of the magical aura clouding things up but I was still able to detect Gine nearby. She must have been in one of the cells beside me because I couldn't see her in any of the ones across the corridor. To be fair, the single point of light filtering down from the small hole in the ceiling wasn't providing a lot of visibility either.

"Gine, are you awake?" I asked, in a loud whisper.

I heard a shuffling before she replied. "Ranma? Ouch, what the hell?" she added, just after a sizzling sound echoed off the walls.

"What was that?" I asked.

"The bars... they're rigged somehow. It burnt me when I touched them."

Ah. So that's why they didn't leave anyone behind to watch us. "Listen," I said. "This whole place reeks of magic. Try not to touch anything. The walls and floor are actively draining us. We should float," I added, before using my ki to begin levitating. Sure enough the pull stopped.

"Won't that drain us too?" she asked. "It's only a matter of time before we get too tired to keep it up."

"Yeah, but it will happen a lot faster if we don't. At least this way we buy ourselves some time." I just needed long enough to figure out an escape plan.

"Hey, Ranma?"

"Yeah?" I replied, still trying to think.

"I'm worried about my son. What if he dies out there while we're still stuck down here? I don't think I can live with myself if I came all this way just to fail him."

I had been staring at the bars, trying to think of a way around them, when she spoke. I didn't know what it was like to be a parent and it was likely I never would but I could still understand wanting to save someone you cared about. I suspected that what she felt went beyond that, though.

I sighed, closing my eyes. "What's his name?" I asked.

"Raditz. He's my first born. I had another one recently, too. He's still incubating, though." She sounded like she was trying not to cry. I needed to keep her talking so she didn't dwell.

"Do you like being a mother?"

She sniffled. "It has its ups and downs. The joy of being responsible for creating and nurturing a life is almost counterbalanced by the constant worry of losing or seeing your child hurt. I used to be against having kids, actually," she added with a humorless laugh.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Rather than think about serving the greater good of our race and growing our population of soldiers, I was thinking about sparing myself the heartache of watching my kids grow up as cogs in the war machine. Accidents do happen, though. When Raditz came along, something broke inside of me and I knew I was meant to be a mother. Through my babies, I have an opportunity to change the galaxy. If I try hard enough, they can be better than the rest of us. And, maybe... maybe they'll live to see the peace that I've only been able to dream about."

"Wow, that's kinda profound," I replied, as I considered her words.

"If you haven't already figured it out, I'm not like most other Saiyans," she said, laughing a little more genuinely now.

"Well, you get a pass with me because I don't know any typical Saiyans. Just you and Turles." Speaking of, he was probably pissed at me for running off. He and the crew probably assumed I'd lost my mind. I mean, I sort of had.

"Wait, you know Turles?" she asked me, sounding quite surprised.

"How do _you_ know him?" I asked, equally surprised.

"He and my mate are cousins," she replied. "They used to be pretty close, too."

"Used to?" I asked.

"Turles tried to do something good and ended up getting punished for it. He was given the choice of exile or death by our king. And, of course, the rest of us are forbidden from contact with the banished."

"Your king sounds like a real dick," I noted.

Gine's laughter was much more full this time. "You have no idea," she said.

"So... why stick around so long? I mean, if it were me, I'd have been out ages ago," I said.

"I wish it were that simple," she replied. "Recognizing that you're in a bad or toxic situation is hard enough because you have to wake up from the illusion that your mind naturally creates to justify it all first. It's a sort of defense mechanism to keep you sane. When you finally do, it's so overwhelming that it's a struggle just to make it through each day. And, even when you figure out what needs to be done to rectify things, it still takes time to work up the nerve to actually take the leap. I also had my family's well being to consider. I still do. My youngest is all alone back on my homeworld."

That had to be tough. I'd never been in her situation so I had nothing to compare it to or any advice to offer. I did want to help her, though, so I had to say something.

"I'm not gonna pretend to understand exactly where you're coming from, but I will say this; you have an opportunity right now and you did the right thing coming with me. So what if we don't have all the answers or the power to throw around to get our way? We still have the freedom to make our own choices. With the way things are going, it's not likely that I'll ever see my family again or even make it home so... I'm gonna make sure that you get reunited with yours - all of them."

"That's a really nice thing to say, Ranma," Gine replied, not sounding very cheered up. "And I know you probably mean it, too. It's just... people don't always get what they want."

"Or what they deserve," a voice said from somewhere in the shadows.

I actually flinched from being so caught off guard. I guess that's what I got for not maintaining the effort toward sensing ki. I really needed to practice until it was second nature. "Who's there?" I asked.

An elderly Solistian woman stepped into the light. Her white hair was held together in a thick braid that fell over her left shoulder and contrasted with the gray robe she was wearing. "I apologize for startling you," she said, inclining her head slightly. "My name is Loyra. Since I'm the eldest among this encampment, it fell upon me to pass judgement on you."

I tensed up, readying myself for anything. "So this is it, then?"

"Yes, this is it," Loyra replied, wearing a slight smirk. There was a twinkle in her eyes as if she was finding humor in holding our fate in her hands.

"Gine, I'm sorry for getting you into this mess," I said, quickly. Because of me, her kids were about to be orphaned.

"It's okay, Ranma," Gine replied, sniffling. "Thanks for trying."

Loyra lifted a glowing hand, palm up, and held it there. She kept us in suspense for what seemed like an eternity before snapping her fingers and making the bars of my cell disappear. "You two are free," she said.

It took a moment for her words to sink in and, when they did, I lowered myself enough to place a tentative toe on the floor - just to test if the ki drain was still in effect. It wasn't. I settled comfortably onto both feet and released the breath I'd been holding.

Loyra maintained her distance with an air of calm as I stepped out of my cell and looked for Gine. Gine was still floating slightly off the ground when I stopped in front of her cell but, when she saw me, she settled down. "Are you okay?" I asked her.

She nodded her head. "Yeah, the burns on my hands are gone," she said, holding her palms out for me to see. There were holes in her gloves where the bars had burnt through the fabric but the skin underneath was undamaged. Weird. "Magic is so strange," she added.

"You have no idea," I said, thinking about my body. I turned to Loyra. "So, what now?" I asked her. "You free us and that's it?"

"Perhaps," Loyra replied. "Or perhaps not. I was thinking we could help each other. You," she said, indicating me with a hand gesture, "are obviously not with the Kold Force. And, from what I've gathered, your friend here has been waiting to get out for quite some time. You must have a reason for being here, though. If it isn't to assist in the genocide of my people, then what is it?"

My first thought was to deflect and lie, like Zell taught me. I could craft some story about making an emergency landing here by mistake because of ship trouble or I could mix in a bit of truth and say I was after a bounty but for someone else. There were a few options. However, something about this woman suggested that she'd see right through me if I did. I sighed in resignation, realizing the safest option would actually be telling the truth.

"Well?" Loyra asked, expectantly.

"Do you know someone named Elarya?" I asked.

Her reaction told me everything. Shoulders stiffened, eyes widened and she actually balled her hands up. "You're a bounty hunter?" She asked.

"Not exactly," I replied, quickly. "I've been riding along with a crew of mercenaries, pirates, or whatever you wanna call them, because they promised to give me a ride home. I'm lost. Like, really lost. More lost than anyone from my planet has ever been - probably. Anyway, somehow, we wound up running an errand for a guy named Jingo because his favorite ship was stolen by this Elarya woman. We can't get to our next stop unless we return his ship and hand her over to him."

Loyra scrutinized me with an unnerving amount of intensity for almost a full minute before visibly relaxing. She sighed. "Thank you for being honest with me, Ranma."

Gine placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. No words were needed to convey her support.

"I've been curious about something ever since I got here," I said, drawing Loyra's full attention once again. "The _Nebula_ is supposedly a huge ship. Did Elarya bring it here to evacuate your people?"

Loyra nodded. "We knew this attack was inevitable for quite some time so we asked for volunteers to venture out in search of solutions. Elarya was among those brave enough to answer the call."

Turles had painted her as nothing more than a conniving prostitute. I'd have to have words with him about that the next time I saw him. "Loyra... I think I'd like to help you and your people. What do you say, Gine?"

Gine didn't hesitate to nod her assent. "I'm tired of being on the wrong side," she said.

Loyra inclined her head, accepting our pledge. "Then I hope you'll allow me to show my appreciation by reuniting you with Raditz."

"What?" Gine said, eyes going wide. "Is he here?"

Loyra shook her head. "No, he isn't. However, with your cooperation and a bit of magic, we can summon him to our location."

"How's that possible?" Gine asked, stunned.

To be honest, even I was surprised. I'd seen magic in action numerous times but I'd never heard of summoning a person from one place to another. Admittedly, I wasn't exactly a trove of knowledge on the subject. My experience with the supernatural was somewhat narrow.

"If you follow me, I'll show you," Loyra said. She snapped her fingers and a door opened up behind her, bathing the dungeon in light.

We followed her up a dank spiral staircase that was lit with blue flame torches. I ran my hand along the cool stone of the wall and wondered if this place was an actual castle since everything appeared ancient. Loyra opened a heavy wooden door that was held on by rusty iron hinges and brought us into a corridor with narrow cutouts letting in natural light. I jogged up to the nearest one, which had vines creeping in through the opening, and saw that we were still in the forest. It made sense that Loyra's people would hide here since there was so much natural camouflage.

"This way," Loyra said, continuing on down the corridor with Gine right behind her.

I caught up with them just before they turned a corner and walked through a set of double doors that seemed to open of their own accord. The chamber on the other side was huge. Stone columns as thick as at least two of my old man ran from the floor to a ceiling that had to be three or four stories high. There were balconies overlooking the ground floor on all sides as well.

"Just a bit further," Loyra said, leading us across the wide gap and into another corridor. She stopped beside a regular sized door and knocked on it before speaking to whoever was on the other side. "It's Loyra. Do you have a moment?"

The door creaked open and a familiar looking face peeked out. It was the young boy who'd been so antagonistic toward us earlier. I think he went by Yeurio. "Oh, so you've decided on mercy then?" he said, sounding a bit sour, as soon as he laid eyes on Gine and I.

"It's nothing less than what they deserve, Yeurio," Loyra replied. "You may be a prodigy in our arts but you've still got a lot to learn in other areas."

He sighed before bowing his head, respectfully, and cast his eyes down. "How can I help you?"

"I need a strong spell caster to assist me with a summoning circle. Are you up for it?"

He was silent as he looked between us and her. "I suppose I can do that," he replied, finally.

"Good. May we enter?" she asked. Yeurio stepped back as he pulled the door open and allowed Loyra to pass. Gine and I were right behind her. "Close the door, please," she added as soon as we were all inside.

Yeurio complied while Gine and I were taking in how bare the room was. There was a single cot with a blanket strewn over it against one wall, a withered wooden table with matching chair beside that and a bookcase on the opposite wall that was empty save for a small collection on the top shelf. It looked like most of the furnishings were as ancient as the rest of this place - like they'd been here all along. They must have arrived here in a hurry if they'd left so many belongings behind.

"Spread out, we need the floor clear," Loyra said as she withdrew something from her waistband.

Gine and I moved to put our backs against the walls to give them space. As soon as Loyra kneeled and began drawing on the floor, I realized it had been chalk she'd been carrying around. Yeurio joined her a moment later. Within minutes, an intricate circle diagram began to take shape. When the general shape was complete, Loyra stood up and left Yeurio to fill in the gaps.

"Gine, come over here," Loyra said, pulling a dagger from within her sleeve. Gine visibility flinched. "We just need a small blood sample."

Gine stepped into the circle, offering her hand, and Loyra ran the blade across her palm. Yeurio moved out of the way as Loyra guided Gine's bleeding hand to drip into a specific area. "Is that it?" she asked.

"Nope," Loyra replied before plucking a strand of hair from Gine's head, eliciting a small yelp. "That was it. Now stand clear."

Gine rejoined me by the wall and we watched as our two Solistian acquaintances took seated lotus positions on either side of the circle and began chanting in whispers. Almost immediately, the chalk took on a faint bluish glow. There was a brief flare up of golden light from the area around her blood and hair before a rush of air swept through the room. A blinding light and screech that made my ears ring preceded the abrupt appearance of a young boy with a mane of black hair that ran down his back. He was clad in the appropriate armor and had the right type of tail so it must've worked.

"Mother?" the boy asked, clearly confused, before being scooped into a bear hug by the diminutive woman. "Stop... what if someone sees?" he complained, looking uncomfortable.

"Hush," Gine said, rubbing his back. "This is a safe place."

"Wait, are those Solistians?" he asked, noticing Loyra and Yeurio for the first time. "Mom, get back," he added, freeing an arm and igniting a ball of ki in his hand.

"Stop!" Gine yelled, grabbing his wrist and squeezing. "They're friends!"

It took the boy a moment for that to register during which he scanned the room looking at both Solistians and then me but, eventually, he calmed down. "Okay, what the hell is going on here?" he asked, banishing the ki.

"A lot has happened since we last saw each other," Gine said, stepping back while leaving her hands on his shoulders. "Maybe you should sit down."


	9. Interlude

_**ASIS: A Saotome In Space**_

Summary: Ranma-chan gets malleted into another dimension and must survive all manner of alien threats in order to find her way home.

Disclaimer: Most characters and settings portrayed in this story are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama and affiliated entities. I do this purely for the fun and enjoyment of escapism – not for profit.

**Interlude  
**

I stood atop a wall which allowed me a view of both the castle courtyard and the forest floor surrounding the ancient structure where numerous tents were pitched. There had to be hundreds of Solistians camped out there and, from what I was told, they were all either very young or very old - basically the ones not suited for war. With the inside being fairly packed, as well, I estimated the total number of refugees neared a thousand. If not for Loyra, I would've said it was impossible to move so many across thousands of kilometers of war zone. But, of course, she had a magical solution to the problem. That was why they were here at this old castle, actually. Apparently, it had been built on some sort of ley line that amplified magical power. The fact that it was hidden by the overgrowth of forest was just icing on the cake.

I tore my eyes away from the cluster of people moving about below and looked further up the length of the wall. Gine and Raditz, like me, were posted up here to keep watch while Loyra and a select few of her more competent peers worked on constructing a massive spell circle on the floor of the giant hall at the center of the castle. In order to get to Elarya and the Nebula, which were supposedly hidden at a holy site somewhere far north of here, Loyra was going to cast a teleportation gate and have everyone literally walk through it. It was a shame she couldn't just gate everyone to another planet. That would've saved all of us a lot of time and trouble.

As it was, they didn't expect the thing to be ready until tomorrow evening. That was dangerous for many reasons. For one, anything could happen between now and then that might blow up this whole area. There was also the fact that the clock was ticking with respect to getting Jingo his ship back. If we didn't get moving soon, there might not be enough time to drop the Solistians off somewhere safe and still make it back to his asteroid base before the deadline. He definitely seemed like someone that made good on his threats so it could wind up going bad for us if we didn't deliver as promised. Convincing Turles to go along with all of this was also an issue. He was determined to find Elarya and had the means to do it so I knew, one way or another, I'd be seeing him again sooner rather than later.

My line of thought was interrupted when I spotted Gine waving a hand to get my attention. I took off in her direction and she met me halfway. She held up what looked like one of those makeup mirrors that flip open and closed. "What's up?" I asked her.

"Here she is," Gine said, handing me the mirror. She silently mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' as she did so. As soon as I took it, I realized it wasn't a mirror but in fact a communicator with a small video screen on the top half.

My eyes went wide when I saw Turles' face. "Turles?"

"You're a real piece of shit, you know that?" he said, glaring at me. "Amond was my strongest subordinate. He added muscle to this crew. Just so you know, you owe Gine and my cousin your life. If not for them, I would have your fucking head. And, in case you were wondering, you're off my crew. Psycho bitch." He added that last part with a particularly scornful inflection.

I was confused. What did Amond have to do with Turles being mad at me? It was Amond's fault that I went all crazy and ran off. He was the one who gave me the fruit that triggered my... oh no... no, that couldn't be. I'd never... I'd always just gone a little wild is all. "Turles... what happened to Amond?"

"He's a stain on the Javelin's hull now. You're lucky everyone else got off with scratches, otherwise we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I can't fucking believe you would keep something major like a berserker state from me. You're a fucking liability."

I had no words. Turles had just confirmed one of my worst fears. Despite my best efforts to keep it under control, the beast had won out. I felt violated. All that talk about a martial artist's duty to protect others and uphold honor, etcetera, had meant nothing in the end. How could I ever trust myself around other people now that I knew the monster had killed?

"Don't look so fucking sad, girl," Turles said, his voice dripping with venom. "You're about to get exactly what you want. Gine, for some reason, seems to think siding with the Solistians could work out in our favor which, of course, means Bardock is backing her up. If this falls apart, know this; I'll be the one to end you. I guarantee it."

I came back to my senses as Turles' threat sunk in. I wasn't sure if it was shock that I was dealing with or not but, for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to care. "If that's what it comes to, so be it. I won't stop you," I said, feeling oddly numb.

I saw Turles grimace before disappearing from the screen and being replaced with a man who looked eerily similar. It could only be Gine's mate.

"Ignore him," Bardock said, glancing off screen briefly. "Gine and Raditz might not be safe right now if you hadn't gotten involved. For that, I'm in your debt."

I felt a pair of arms encircle my waist from behind and looked to my left as Gine rested her chin on my shoulder. "Sometimes good people do bad things, Ranma," she said. "And, in your case, you weren't even in control. We've all had to come to terms with our actions whether intentional or not. I'm not saying that the harm we've all caused is okay. But, as long as we survive to fight another day, we'll have a chance to make things right. I think you've already helped a lot in that regard, too. Because of you, we're going to save lives instead of destroy them. And this is just the beginning. Once we succeed here, we can go on to do the same thing in other places. So... please don't give up. Not when you just managed to give me hope again," she added, her voice thick with emotion.

I blinked furiously and succeeded in stopping the sudden burning in my eyes from becoming tears but felt my throat tighten up regardless. A weird choking gasp involuntarily escaped me and, suddenly, my knees felt too weak to keep me upright. Gine caught me, squeezing as she held me up. She didn't let up until I got my breathing back under control and, even then, she remained pressed against me.

Bardock cleared his throat. "Anyway, Marou pinged Gine's private comm so the rest of us are gonna rendezvous with you guys before sunset. You two need to make sure that the group you're with know we're coming."

"We'll get it handled," Gine said. Bardock gave her a two fingered salute in reply and she clapped the communicator shut while it was still in my hand. "Let's go."


End file.
